‘A great story’: Singaporean photographer captures the moment Ronaldo made history at the World Cup

Alessia Mah
The Straits Times
June 25, 2026

It had taken him 24 matches and almost 2,000 minutes, but Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first man to score in six different World Cups.

Metres above, with a camera in his hand, Singaporean sports photographer Edmund Wong was also living his dream.

With his camera trained on the Portuguese forward, Wong caught the moment Ronaldo scored his first goal in the 2026 World Cup and rushed to his teammates in celebration.

One photo shows Ronaldo being embraced by his team, his jubilant face shining bright against the red of Portugal’s uniform, a symbol of courage and struggle.

“It tells a great story,” Wong, a fifa-accredited photographer, said, looking back at the picture. “It shows the amount of support that he has from his teammates and their belief.”

The photo – and Ronaldo’s two goals against Uzbekistan – comes amid doubts swirling around the 41-year-old superstar and his place on the Portugal team. His rivals had already made their mark in the 2026 tournament, with Argentina’s Lionel Messi scoring a hat-trick last week against Algeria, while Portugal drew 1-1 against DR Congo.

Originally posted on Wong’s Instagram, the photo was shared on Ronaldo’s personal account a day later on June 25 and has garnered more than eight million likes since.

Although Wong was initially not credited in the football star’s post, which he said was common for “a lot of athletes”, the Singaporean nonetheless said he feels honoured and grateful.

“(Ronaldo using the photo) shows that he liked it and it meant something to him,” he said.

After getting in contact with Ronaldo’s team, Wong has since been tagged in the post.

Wong himself has been on a journey since watching the 2002 World Cup as a child and falling in love with football.

He picked up a camera for the first time when he took a photography course in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, which he failed. He then returned to it during his time in national service, inspired by the street photography he saw on Instagram.

He made the connection between his interest in the craft and his passion for the sport when football giants Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid came to Singapore for the International Champions Cup in 2018.

In 2022, he decided to start working in sports photography professionally and has since worked with the Singapore Premier League and the Singapore national football team.

Now 30 years old, the opportunity to experience the World Cup as a photographer accredited with the football governing body has been the achievement of his dreams.

“I remember telling my friends that if I can get to shoot just one match – any match of the World Cup – I’ll be content.

And here I am, shooting this particular game, getting this particular shot and getting one of the world’s best players to post my photo on his account.”

Since arriving for the tournament on June 12, Wong has photographed seven matches. His first, Brazil’s opener against Morocco, was “amazing”.

“Once you’re there, you will feel the energy and the reason why people call it the No. 1 sport of the world,” he said, recounting the crowd of more than 80,000 fans and the volume of their cheers.

“I was getting notifications on my Apple Watch saying: ‘Caution, the noise is above 90 decibels’,” he quipped.

For now, Wong has returned to his accommodations in Guadalajara, Mexico, where his next game – Spain’s final group stage match against Uruguay – will be held on June 27.

The next day, he will head to Miami for another chance to photograph Ronaldo and Portugal when they play Colombia.

Whether Wong will have the chance to shoot the knockout matches he has planned his travels around is still up in the air, as applications open on a rolling basis.

So, like every player on the pitch, he has been taking the tournament match by match, hoping to make it to the final.

Have something to say? Join in!

Show all comments