Cristiano Ronaldo is set to become the first player to feature at six European Championships when Portugal open their Euro 2024 campaign against the Czechia.

Ronaldo, who made his tournament debut at Euro 2004 where Portugal reached the final, already has the records for the most goals (14) and appearances (25) at the tournament.

The 39-year-old forward showed he’s not finished yet by scoring two goals as Portugal warmed up with a 3-0 win over Ireland.

Ronaldo bagged five goals at Euro 2020, the same as Czechia striker Patrik Schick to share the top-scorer award. Schick is again the main target for the Czech team and arrives full of confidence after helping Bayer Leverkusen win the Bundesliga.

The Euro 2024 could be Ronaldo’s international swansong, although the 39-year-old appears as hungry for goals and adulation as ever.

Police had to intervene to remove some enamored supporters from Portugal’s open training session in Gutersloh on Saturday when they ran onto the field to take selfies with the Portugal star. Some 8,000 fans attended the training session.

While he may have moved away from Europe’s elite to play in Saudi Arabia, the goal-getting instincts of the leading scorer in men’s international football seem as razor sharp as ever.

He finished second-top scorer in qualifying with 10 goals and smashed 35 in 31 league games for Al Nassr last season.

“Ronaldo always thinks in big proportions, and we want to support him because he is our captain. He’s the one who has won the most among us,” Portugal and Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot said.

But Ronaldo is not the only danger for the Czechs, who are making their eight successive appearance.

Even without Ronaldo, Portugal boast a formidable attacking lineup with Barcelona’s Joao Felix, Paris Saint-Germain’s Goncalo Ramos and Milan’s Rafael Leao all providing options for Bruno Fernandes in midfield.

While Ronaldo lifted the trophy in 2016, he may still be harbouring a sense of unfinished business on the international stage.

Having sat out most of that final eight years ago through injury, he has failed to propel Portugal to further glory at two subsequent World Cups or at Euro 2020, when they were knocked out in the last-16.

This has been one of Portugal’s most gilded generations but with Ronaldo and 41-year-old defender Pepe in the twilight of their careers, Euro 2024 has the feel of a last hurrah.

With a squad bulging with talent, Portugal will be, on paper, one of the best teams in Germany. They won all of their 10 games in the qualifiers, scoring 36 and conceding twice.

“I believe this generation deserves to win a competition of this magnitude,” Ronaldo told reporters upon arrival in Germany, setting his sights on the Henri Delaunay trophy.

Yet their manager Roberto Martinez knows all about the pitfalls of leading a supremely talented bunch of players at international tournaments, having failed to turn Belgium’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’ into tournament winners.

Martinez, however, also knows he has arguably the game’s best in Ronaldo.

“We have 23 players. We create competitiveness and the game makes decisions,” he said earlier this month.

“But Cristiano is prepared to help the team and give everything he can give. And there is no other player in the world who can bring what Cristiano can to the dressing room.”

Schick, who won goal of the tournament at Euro 2020 for his stunner against Scotland from the halfway line, will spearhead a Czech side with very different expectations.

The Czechs finished second in qualifying behind Albania, winning four of their eight matches in a group that also included Poland, Moldova and the Faroe Islands.

With Schick absent from the final rounds of qualifying, they found goals hard to come by but, fresh from the ‘double’ with Leverkusen, he seems to have shaken off the injuries that hampered him and that could spell trouble for Portugal.

“I believe we have the ambitions. We could be knocked out in the group stage, or we could win it,” Czechia coach Ivan Hasek said.