After the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo missed six international matches, including the entire league phase of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo played for hosts Portugal in the inaugural Nations League Finals in June 2019. In the semi-finals on 5 June, he scored a hat-trick against Switzerland to secure a spot in the final. Upon netting the match’s opening goal, he became the first player to score in 10 consecutive international competitions, breaking the record of nine he previously shared with Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan. In the final of the tournament four days later, Portugal defeated Netherlands 1–0.
On 10 September 2019, Ronaldo scored four goals in a 5–1 away win over Lithuania in a Euro 2020 qualifying match, in the process, he overtook Robbie Keane (23 goals) as the player with most goals in the UEFA European Championship qualifiers, setting a new record with 25 goals. On that occasion, Ronaldo also set a new record as the player who scored against the most national teams, 40, while also completing his eighth international hat-trick. On 14 October, he scored his 700th senior career goal for club and country from the penalty spot, in his 974th senior career appearance, a 2–1 away loss to Ukraine in a Euro 2020 qualifier. On 17 November, Ronaldo scored his 99th international goal in a 2–0 win over Luxembourg, leading Portugal to qualify for Euro 2020. On 8 September 2020, Ronaldo scored his 100th and 101st international goals in a 2–0 away win over Sweden in a 2020–21 UEFA Nations Leaguematch, becoming only the second male player ever, after Ali Daei of Iran—and the first in Europe—to achieve this milestone.
