Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal has become the most-capped men’s international player of all time.

The Al Nassr forward earned his 197th cap against Liechtenstein on Thursday, taking him one ahead of Kuwait forward Bader Al-Mutawa.

Soh Chin Ann (195 caps) of Malaysia is third on the list, with Egypt’s Ahmed Hassan (184) and Oman’s Ahmed Mubarak (183) rounding out the top five.

After Portugal lost to Morocco in the World Cup quarterfinals in December, Ronaldo equaled Al-record. Mutawa’s

Ronaldo claimed ahead of the match against Liechtenstein at Stadium Jose Alvalade that he considered retiring from international football following that setback.

Nonetheless, he was appointed to new head coach Roberto Martinez’s first squad and made even more history when he played against Liechtenstein in Lisbon.

Ronaldo, who also holds the record for the most men’s international goals (118), won his first cap in 2003, when he came on as a substitute for Luis Figo in a friendly against Kazakhstan.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who won Euro 2016 with Portugal, has faced Luxembourg the most (10 times), followed by Spain (nine).

Ronaldo has also scored nine goals against Luxembourg, as well as seven against Lithuania and Sweden.

He has appeared in 47 major competitions for Portugal, including 25 European Championships and 22 World Cups, and hopes to play in Euro 2024.

“My biggest wish is to be able to take Portugal as high as possible,” Ronaldo said on Wednesday. “I will always play my part when needed.

“Earning records is always a positive thing and it motivated me. I like to break records and will now break another special one. It makes me very proud.

“But beyond [Thursday] I still have plenty of games left. Let’s see if the coach still wants to count on me to be available.”