RONALDO MARKED HIS record-breaking 197th international appearance in midweek with two goals against Liechtenstein and he repeated the trick as Portugal thumped Luxembourg 6-0.
The 38-year-old diverted in Nuno Mendes’ headed pass to give Roberto Martinez’s men a ninth-minute lead.
Goals from Joao Felix and Bernardo Silva put the game to bed inside 18 minutes, before Ronaldo slotted home his second from Bruno Fernandes’ through ball in the 31st minute.
Ronaldo has now scored 11 goals against Luxembourg in his career – and has taken his record international tally to 122.
Late strikes from substitutes Otavio and Rafael Leao, who also missed a penalty, rounded off a fine performance from Portugal who are already clear at the top of Group J.
“It’s important to play as a team, to open up the game with the ball,” said new Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, who has restored Ronaldo to the starting line-up after he was dropped during the 2022 World Cup.
“We work so the players understand what we want and it’s been a good start, but we have to improve and work much more together.”
Elsewhere in the group, Iceland bounced back from their opening defeat by Bosnia and Herzegovina by thrashing Liechtenstein 7-0.
Slovakia moved into second place behind Portugal with a 2-0 win over the Bosnians.
In Group C, reigning champions Italy bounced back from their loss to England with a straightforward 2-0 away win over Malta.
Argentine-born forward Mateo Retegui followed up his debut goal against England by opening the scoring early on.
Monza midfielder Matteo Pessina made it two before the half-hour mark and Italy comfortably saw out the victory.
Denmark shocked
Denmark blew a two-goal lead to crash to a surprise 3-2 defeat in Kazakhstan.
The Euro 2020 semi-finalists appeared to be cruising to victory in the Group H match as Atalanta youngster Rasmus Hojlund netted twice in the first half after scoring a hat-trick against Finland on Thursday.
Kazakhstan had started their bid to qualify for a first ever major tournament with a home defeat by Slovenia.
But Bakhtiyor Zaynutdinov’s 73rd-minute penalty gave the hosts hope of a famous turnaround in Astana.
Midfielder Askhat Tagybergen crashed a long-range drive past a helpless Kasper Schmeichel with four minutes of normal time remaining to equalise.
Substitute Abat Aymbetov provided the golden moment for Kazakhstan — who have already at least secured a Euro 2024 play-off spot through the Nations League — leaping to power a header into the top corner in the 89th minute.
He was later sent off for a second yellow card but by then had already grabbed all three points.
