Cristiano Ronaldo goes past Pele's goal record as Portugal win

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick to move past Pele on the list of all-time international goalscorers as Portugal beat Faroe Islands 5-1 to stay close to Switzerland at the top of Group B in World Cup qualifiers

Cristiano Ronaldo. Pic/AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick to move past Pele on the list of all-time international goalscorers as Portugal beat Faroe Islands 5-1 to stay close to Switzerland at the top of Group B in World Cup qualifiers.

Ronaldo netted with a neat volley then added two other goals to surpass the Brazil great and move into second place on the list of Europe’s all-time scorers with 78 goals. He’s six behind Hungary great Ferenc Puskas. Pele scored 77 goals for Brazil. William Carvalho and Nelson Oliveira also scored for Portugal.

Meanwhile, Philippe Coutinho scored as Brazil defeated Ecuador 2-0 to clinch top spot in South America’s 2018 World Cup qualifying race on Thursday.

Brazil's ninth consecutive qualifying victory gave the Selecao an 11-point lead at the top of the standings with three games to play, meaning they cannot be overhauled.

Liverpool star Coutinho came off the substitutes bench to help break down a determined Ecuador after Paulinho had provided the breakthrough on 69 minute.
AFP

Other results
Peru 2-1 Bolivia
Switzerland 3-0 Andorra
Bulgaria 3-2 Sweden

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