Cristiano Ronaldo makes history – the players to feature in most European Championships

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208 Portugal caps 

It’s become habitual for Cristiano Ronaldo to break records across his extraordinary career and the Portuguese superstar added yet another on Monday night. The 38-year-old was already the record appearance holder in the European Championships ahead of Euro 2024 with 25 appearances but his 26th start at the Euros against Czech Republic was hugely significant. 

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United attacker became the only player to feature in six different European Championships. Ronaldo debuted at Euro 2004 and scored twice as Portugal were defeated by Greece in the final and he’s now starred at five other summer championships – scoring 14 goals – to create history. The longevity of Ronaldo’s career is testament to his famed professionalism and Transfermarkt has analysed the players who’ve featured at the most European Championships. 

Ahead of Euro 2024, Ronaldo already held the record for appearing at the most European Championships with five but Luka Modric joined him on that total after starting for Croatia in their 3-0 defeat to Spain. But Ronaldo eclipsed his former Real Madrid teammate after starting against the Czech Republic in Leipzig to bring up his sixth Euros – as illustrated in the graphic below.

Remarkably, it was also Ronaldo’s 208th international appearance and he will be aiming to captain Portugal to glory this summer in Germany. It was also a landmark appearance for Ronaldo’s teammate Pepe as he became the oldest ever player to feature at the Euros at 41, breaking the record held by Hungary goalkeeper Gábor Király (40 years and 86 days at Euro 2016). Pepe’s appearance against Czech Republic moved him alongside Luka Modric on five Euros. There’s a star studded list of 24 players to have featured at four European Championships including Luther Matthaus, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Alessandro Del Piero and Edwin van der Sar. But Ronaldo is out ahead by himself on six and he will be aiming to add another trophy to his incredible collection by repeating Portugal’s feat of winning the Euros from 2016.