Will Ronaldo reach 1000 goals?
Cristiano Ronaldo reaching 1000 goals is practically guaranteed! He is just 15 goals away and is comfortably on course to hit the milestone before the end of the season which is when his current contract ends. But even if he doesn't achieve it within that time period (which is highly unlikely), the chances of Ronaldo retiring just a few goals away from 1000 are practically zero!
Ronaldo's calendar
The 2026/27 Saudi Pro League runs until 29 May 2027, with a long winter break from late December to early February while Saudi Arabia hosts the 2027 Asian Cup. His current Al Nassr contract runs to June 2027.
With that schedule in mind, the projected ~22 games he will need to score the remaining 15 goals takes us to around April 2027.
Will Messi reach 1000 goals?
Whether Lionel Messi will reach 1000 goals is far less certain. It's definitely possible before his current contract ends, but that contract ends mid-season, so feels unlikely to be an accurate deadline.
Messi's final contract years
MLS is switching from its traditional spring-to-autumn season to a summer-to-spring calendar like Europe's top leagues, after the change was approved in late 2025. That reshapes how many games Messi has left before his Inter Miami contract runs out:
- February to May 2027 (sprint season): a one-off, 14-game season plus playoffs, to bridge the old and new calendars.
- July 2027 to May 2028 (2027/28 season): his first full season on the new calendar, with a winter break from mid-December to early February.
- July to December 2028 (first half of 2028/29): his contract runs out in December 2028, so he's only signed for the opening half of this season.
Neither Inter Miami nor MLS has said whether his deal will be extended to the end of the 2028/29 season in May 2029 - reports suggest that will be looked at closer to the time.
One would assume it's unlikely Messi will retire mid-season, so it would all come down to whether he decides to retire at the end of the 2027/28 season, or extend to the end of the 2028/29 season.
The projected ~73 games Messi will need to score the remaining 63 goals takes us to around September 2028, in the middle of the 2028/29 season.
How the dates are worked out
Each pace gives the number of games a player needs for 1,000 goals. Those games are then spread across the weeks his league is actually playing, skipping off-seasons and breaks. Players don't play every game, so we assume each will play about 91% of his club's games, with no international football to work around.