Ronaldo makes history with sixth World Cup appearance as Portugal begin campaign against DR Congo

Cristiano Ronaldo created history on Wednesday, June 17, as he led Portugal out for their Group K opener against DR Congo, becoming the first male player to appear in six World Cups. The 41-year-old captain started the match at the NRG Stadium in Houston, which kicked off at 11:00 pm Bangladesh time.

With this appearance, Ronaldo now shares the record with Lionel Messi, who made his sixth World Cup appearance for Argentina a day earlier . The Portuguese captain also has the opportunity to become the first player to score in six different World Cups if he finds the net against the Congolese .

Portugal, under coach Roberto Martinez, fielded a strong starting XI: Diogo Costa; Joao Cancelo, Tomas Araujo, Renato Veiga, Nuno Mendes; Vitinha, Ruben Neves; Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Pedro Neto; and Cristiano Ronaldo . This is widely expected to be the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's final World Cup campaign.