The Portuguese superstar kept those stats boffins at Opta Towers busy against Austria. Unfortunately for him, though, his latest collection of records don't stack up favourably...
Perhaps, as one Twitter user pondered, those Icelandic gods are very real. Certainly, the Nordic nation will be feeling a sense of karma doing its thing in Paris, after Portugal again toiled to draw a game against Austria they should have won easily – and Cristiano Ronaldo in particular suffering worst.
On his record-breaking 128th cap, the Real Madrid hitman was wretched: for the second Euros games running he attempted 10 shots without fruition and, crucially, missed a late penalty that would have ended the agony for Fernando Santos's side.
A sorry night in front of goal for a pretty dominant #POR. Ronaldo clocks 10 shots for the second game running #AUTpic.twitter.com/QS2bwHz87X
Ronaldo angered Europe with his comments about Iceland's "small mentality", so naturally there was much self-wetting on social media throughout this latest hour-and-a-half of torture for the 31-year-old.
He typified his side's struggles in Paris, supplementing his missed spot-kick with a chalked-off goal for offside, a close-range header saved by Robert Almer and another two free-kick attempts which added to an already-awkward statistic: he has now had 36 direct free-kick shots in major tournaments for Portugal (World Cup and European Championships)... and hasn’t scored with any of them.
20 – Cristiano Ronaldo (20 shots, 0 goals) has attempted more shots at #Euro2016 than nine other teams. Toil.
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Ronaldo is rarely a creator for this Portugal side that revolves around him, and it showed here: check out his passes from the night, and how many went backwards.
As such, he didn't manage to create a single chance for his team-mates in open play, and didn't even try to dribble past an Austrian opponent.
He wasn't the only one, of course. Portugal had 23 shots and only managed six on target; Nani headed against the post after spurning a one-on-one earlier in the game. Ronaldo now, though, has attempted 97 shots at European Championships – 45 more than second-placed Thierry Henry.
1 - Cristiano Ronaldo has missed his first penalty at a major tournament in normal time (scored v Iran in 2006 World Cup). Woe.
But for Portugal, every cloud and that. A peculiar anomaly of their group is that finishing second is likely to give them an easier knockout game than topping it. Winning would hand them the runner-up of Italy's group (likely Belgium), while a second-place finish presents the equivalent from England's (likely Wales or Slovakia).
Should they finally deliver on their promise, though, a convincing win over Hungary in the final game should still see them head the pile.
Joe was the Deputy Editor at FourFourTwo until 2022, having risen through the FFT academy and been on the brand since 2013 in various capacities.
By weekend and frustrating midweek night he is a Leicester City fan, and in 2020 co-wrote the autobiography of former Foxes winger Matt Piper – subsequently listed for both the Telegraph and William Hill Sports Book of the Year awards.
