The 38-year-old veteran striker struck after the break. First he made it 2-0 with a confident penalty kick, while twelve minutes later he scored the home team’s third goal with a free kick.
The double came in Ronaldo’s 197th appearance for Portugal. With that, he passed Kuwait player Bader Al-Mutawa and was left alone with the world record for the number of caps.
Ronaldo was substituted in the 78th minute and did not get the opportunity to play for a hat-trick in the opening match of the European Championship qualifiers. He has 120 goals for Portugal since his debut in August 2003.
João Cancelo scored Portugal’s first goal after eight minutes. Then a low shot went in via two players, while Bernardo doubled the lead just after the break.
Thursday’s match was Roberto Martínez’s first as coach of the Portuguese national team. The Spaniard quit as Belgium manager after the World Cup finals in Qatar before Christmas.
