Achievements hard to repeat: Ronaldo leaves nine records that will not be broken any time soon

Ronaldo tops the all-time list of international goalscorers with 146 goals, 20 ahead of Argentina's Lionel Messi, who announced his own international retirement this year, and 38 clear of Iran's Ali Daei.

Romelu Lukaku is the closest active player to that mark on 94 goals, but at 33 he faces a tough task to reel in the Portuguese star. The same goes for Poland's Robert Lewandowski, who sits on 92 and can still add a few more.

Harry Kane can keep building his England tally. Yet he needs more than 50 goals to match Ronaldo's figure, let alone beat it.

Norway's Erling Haaland, on 65 goals, ranks among the few names theoretically capable of closing in. His chances hinge on how many major tournaments his country reaches, and the 2026 World Cup marked Norway's first appearance at a major finals since Euro 2000.

France's Kylian Mbappé has 67 international goals, a total that lays bare the gulf between him and Ronaldo. He hasn't even reached half the Portugal captain's tally.

Ronaldo didn't amass this immense goalscoring tally without racking up an exceptional number of matches. He also tops the list for international appearances, with 234 caps for Portugal.

The Portuguese star leads Messi by 26 matches, the Argentine having turned out 208 times for his country. Croatia's Luka Modric sits third, 28 games behind his former Real Madrid teammate despite nearing the end of his international career at the age of 41, according to a report published by the PlanetFootball network.

Among active players, Qatar's Hassan Al-Haydos comes closest to Ronaldo's figure. The Al-Sadd captain has played 193 internationals, but he still needs a huge number of appearances to get anywhere near the top.

Breaking this record is so difficult because Ronaldo represented Portugal for 23 years. That is an exceptional span, and one few players could ever hope to replicate.

Age hasn't dulled Ronaldo's eye for goal. If anything, his numbers suggest he has become even more prolific in the second half of his career.

The Portuguese star has scored 94 goals for his country after turning thirty, compared to just 52 before that age. He has netted almost double his previous tally during this phase alone.

Messi sits behind him on this list, with 68 goals for Argentina after turning thirty.

Breaking Ronaldo's record looks extremely difficult. Only four players in the history of football have scored 94 international goals or more, regardless of their age at the time.

Ronaldo has found the net in 96 different matches for Portugal, a figure that lays bare his scoring consistency across the years.

What stands out is not simply the goal tally, but the number of games in which he managed to score. Only Ronaldo, Messi and Ali Daei have reached that mark in the history of international football.

Ronaldo has now scored against 49 different national teams in a Portugal shirt.

That puts him three clear of Messi, a tally that underlines his knack for finding the net against opponents from every footballing school and continent.

Future generations may get more chances to face fresh opposition as the World Cup expands, but matching this mark will stay a tall order. Beating it would mean playing a huge number of national teams, and that depends just as much on the luck of qualifying and tournament draws.

Ronaldo has scored international goals for Portugal across 23 different years, proof of his ability to keep finding the net throughout a career spanning more than two decades.

Anyone hoping to beat that record would have to start their international career young and keep going into their forties, scoring at least one goal every year without a single gap.

That is a brutal ask. It demands not just longevity but the knack of scoring regularly across the entire span.

Ronaldo may have missed out on the all-time World Cup goals record, but he stands alone atop the European Championship scoring charts with 14 goals across his appearances in the competition.

The Portugal captain leads France's Michel Platini by five, with the legendary midfielder second on 9.

Spain's Alvaro Morata and England's Harry Kane sit on 7 apiece. Yet both will be well into their 30s by the next tournament, 35 and 34 respectively.

Kane shapes up as the likeliest man to chase Ronaldo down, though he may get just one more crack at it. If the next edition proves his last, he will need 8 goals to overtake the record, a tally only Platini has managed in a single tournament.

Then there's the matter of games played. Ronaldo is one of only two outfield players to feature in more than 20 matches in the tournament's history, so any challenger will require a ferocious scoring rate to come close.

Ronaldo tops the scoring charts, and he also holds the record for most European Championship appearances with 30 games.

Breaking that record is a tall order. Reaching the final means playing just seven matches, so any challenger would need to go all the way in at least four consecutive editions, then play one more game, to overhaul the Portuguese star's tally.

Easy it is not. UEFA have already shelved plans to expand the tournament, so chasing the record could demand an international career spanning nearly 20 years, plus outstanding results in every edition a player features in.

Ronaldo and Messi are the only outfield players, goalkeepers aside, to have featured in six editions of the World Cup. The Portuguese star goes one better, though, having scored in every single one of them.

Matching that feat looks almost impossible. A player would need to stay at the top of the international game for nearly two decades, see his country qualify for every tournament and then find the net at each of them.

The World Cup comes around just once every four years, so reaching six editions is a monumental ask in itself. Scoring in all of them is another matter entirely.