Ronaldo rips up records as Colombia qualify

A Madeiran Martian had been written off by masses. The man Pepe labelled “an alien” then ran out in ‘Space City’ and exterminated debate over his status in the Portugal side.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s old amigo was one of many men he relieved of a record on Matchday 13 of the FIFA World Cup 2026™. There were landmarks for England too – albeit unwanted ones – in a draw with Ghana, while Ante Budimir rose from the bench to spur Croatia to victory over Panama and Daniel Munoz snatched Colombia a reverse of Congo DR.

It took just six minutes for Ronaldo to shush his sceptics with an impeccably controlled strike. Then, as everybody expected CR7 to unleash a knuckleball free-kick, Nuno Mendes sneakily steered it home.

Ronaldo’s second of the contest put the result to bed, and he would have gone to sleep with a TRIONDA had it not been for goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov’s guts and reflexes. Portugal still emerged emphatic victors to move on to progression’s periphery.