After years of playing for Portugal’s youth teams from U15 to U19, Cristiano Ronaldo was called up to Portugal in August 2003 to prepare for a friendly match against Kazakhstan.
On 20/8/2003, just 4 days after debuting MU club, Ronaldo was on the registration list of the Portugal team against Kazakhstan in Lisbon. In the 46th minute, Ronaldo was brought into the field to replace star Rui Costa. The 18-year-old player then entered the field with the number 16 shirt. In the first 45 minutes of his debut for Portugal, Ronaldo played quite aggressively, contributing to Seleccao’s 1-0 victory over Kazakhstan.
18 years after his debut for Portugal, Ronaldo has become the top superstar of world football. He currently holds the record for the most appearances for Portugal (179 times) and the most goals for the national team in the world (109 goals).
At the age of 36, Ronaldo joined the Portuguese team in 10 major tournaments (EURO and World Cup). CR7 and Seleccao reached the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup and won the Euro 2016 championship.
