This Singaporean photographer had his World Cup photo of Cristiano Ronaldo reposted by the football star himself

Singaporean photographer Edmund Wong scored a career highlight after Cristiano Ronaldo reposted one of his photos from the FIFA World Cup, and later added credit.

The 30-year-old, who is a FIFA World Cup-accredited photographer, recently captured a photo of Ronaldo celebrating with his Portugal teammates after scoring in the team's 5-0 win over Uzbekistan on Wednesday (Jun 24).

The following day, the 41-year-old football player reposted the image on his Instagram account, @cristiano, which has more than 669 million followers, with the caption "Unidos!" ("Together" in Spanish), alongside a Portugal flag emoji. The post, however, did not initially credit Wong.

Speaking to CNA Lifestyle on Friday, Wong said he had uploaded the image in collaboration with football media agency Pitchsiders while waiting for a flight in Houston before travelling to his accommodation in Mexico.

When he landed, his phone would not stop buzzing.

"I received so many messages from my friends sharing Ronaldo's post and asking, 'Is this your photo?!'" he recalled. "I was in absolute disbelief. When I saw the photo, I was shocked and speechless – it was really mine."

While Wong described it as "an absolute honour" to have one of football's biggest stars share his work, he soon realised he had not been credited.

"As a football fan, I was elated that Ronaldo had even noticed my photo," he said. "But as a media professional, I also wanted to receive the credit I deserved.

"I didn't know who to turn to, so I took a shot in the dark and sent his Instagram account a direct message, knowing he probably wouldn't read it."

He also posted a behind-the-scenes reel showing how he captured the image and his reaction after discovering it had been shared by Ronaldo. In the