sportbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Cristiano Ronaldo Moves To Third On International Wins List, Chasing Two Legends

Cristiano Ronaldo Moves To Third On International Wins List, Chasing Two Legends

Two Spain legends stand between Portugal star and the all-time record.

Alex Reid

Alex Reid

Cristiano Ronaldo played in his 101st win for Portugal on Tuesday, taking him to third on the list of all-time international winners.

The Portugal captain passed the ultimate pass-master Xavi to stand alone in third place after Portugal's 3-2 victory in Croatia. But he still has two more Spain legends ahead of him - and the man leading the list may be near impossible to catch.

Iker Casillas, goalkeeper during Spain's incredible run of three major international tournament triumphs in a row from 2008 to 2012, is next in Ronaldo's sights with 121 wins.

But the man leading overall is still the current Spain captain: Sergio Ramos with a monumental 130 wins from his 178 senior caps.

As Ronaldo's former Real Madrid teammate is 34, a year younger than the Portuguese superstar, it's highly unlikely Ramos will be caught. Especially if Spain keep up the form that saw them destroy Germany 6-0 in a shocking Nations League result.

Portugal had to work a bit harder for their 3-2 win over Croatia, Ruben Dias capitalising on a late error from goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic to give the visitors victory. Ronaldo, for once, failed to get on the scoresheet - the closest he came being a free-kick parried by Livakovic, which Dias slotted in for the first of his two goals on the night

That means CR7 is stuck on "only" 102 Portugal goals, still seven behind Iran's Ali Daei and his all-time international record of 109.

But while there's plenty of speculation around when Ronaldo might catch and pass Daei - with the retired Iranian striker claiming he would be "honoured" to see it happen - there's less talk about Ronaldo's 100+ international victories and where that puts him in the record books.

It's a hell of an achievement. But can he earn 21 more wins to overtake Casillas and stand second overall only to Ramos? Never bet against him.

All imagery: PA Images

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, Sergio Ramos, Football, Portugal, Spain, Iker Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo