Qualifiers roundup: Cristiano Ronaldo breaks international appearance record

Cristiano Ronaldo has broken the record for the highest number of international appearances, scoring twice on his 197th cap for Portugal in their 4-0 win over Liechtenstein.

The veteran forward, who now has 120 international goals, overhauled the previous record held by the striker Bader Al-Mutawa, who played 196 times for Kuwait.

João Cancelo and Bernardo Silva also struck for Portugal in European Championship qualifying group J.

Also in Portugal’s group, Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Iceland 3-0 while Slovakia played out a goalless draw with Luxembourg.

It was a night for records, as Harry Kane became England’s all-time record scorer as Gareth Southgate’s side started their qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win at the home of Euro 2020 champions Italy. Two other teams in Group C met in Skopje, with North Macedonia beating Malta 2-1.

Dion Charles struck twice for Northern Ireland to kick off Michael O’Neill’s second stint in charge with a 2-0 win in San Marino.

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Elsewhere in Northern Ireland’s group, Kazakhstan lost 2-1 at home to Slovenia, while Denmark beat Finland 3-1.