CRISTIANO RONALDO netted a double to become the European Championship’s all-time leading scorer as Portugal struck three times late on to beat a stubborn Hungary 3-0 in their Euro 2020 opener Tuesday.

The holders, who appear to have a much stronger squad than when they won their first major title five years ago, labored for long periods in Budapest.

But Raphael Guerreiro made the vital breakthrough in the 84th minute and Ronaldo slammed in a penalty shortly afterwards before tapping home in injury time.

The Juventus striker has now scored 11 goals in the tournament, two more than French great Michel Platini, who netted nine times when he led France to glory in 1984.

The 36-year-old is also just three goals away from matching Iranian Ali Daei’s all-time international scoring record of 109.

Ronaldo chose by far the biggest crowd of the tournament to break the record in front of, with Budapest the only Euro 2020 venue not to limit fan capacity due to COVID-19.

The Puskas Arena has a capacity of almost 68,000 fans.

Portugal coach Fernando Santos opted to play Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and Bernardo Silva alongside Ronaldo ahead of Joao Felix.

It almost paid instant dividends, as Jota forced Hungary goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi into a smart save with a left-footed drive in the fourth minute, although he perhaps should have squared the ball for an unmarked Ronaldo.

The other Group F match saw a clash between the two most recent world champions, as the 2018 World Cup winner France secured a 1-0 victory over 2014 champion Germany at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Portugal tops Group F with three points followed by France, which is equal on points but sits second on goal difference. (SD-Agencies)