International Goals and Stats - Messi vs Ronaldo All Time International Stats

All Time Internationals

Messi Stats All Time Internationals All Time Argentina

98 Goals
53 Assists
172 Apps

146 mins per goal
95 mins per goal contribution

Ronaldo Stats All Time Internationals All Time Portugal

118 Goals
33 Assists
196 Apps

131 mins per goal
103 mins per goal contribution

Competitive Internationals

Messi Stats Competitive Internationals All Time Argentina

54 Goals
37 Assists
121 Apps

192 mins per goal
114 mins per goal contribution

Ronaldo Stats Competitive Internationals All Time Portugal

98 Goals
24 Assists
144 Apps

125 mins per goal
100 mins per goal contribution

International Friendlies

Messi Stats International Friendlies All Time Argentina

44 Goals
16 Assists
51 Apps

89 mins per goal
66 mins per goal contribution

Ronaldo Stats International Friendlies All Time Portugal

20 Goals
9 Assists
52 Apps

164 mins per goal
113 mins per goal contribution

Copa America / Euros

Messi Stats Copa America / Euros All Time Argentina

13 Goals
17 Assists
34 Apps

224 mins per goal
97 mins per goal contribution

Ronaldo Stats Copa America / Euros All Time Portugal

14 Goals
6 Assists
25 Apps

154 mins per goal
108 mins per goal contribution

World Cup

Messi Stats World Cup All Time Argentina

13 Goals
8 Assists
26 Apps

178 mins per goal
110 mins per goal contribution

Ronaldo Stats World Cup All Time Portugal

8 Goals
2 Assists
22 Apps

220 mins per goal
176 mins per goal contribution

All Major Tournaments

Messi Stats All Major Tournaments All Time Argentina

26 Goals
25 Assists
60 Apps

201 mins per goal
102 mins per goal contribution

Ronaldo Stats All Major Tournaments All Time Portugal

22 Goals
8 Assists
47 Apps

178 mins per goal
131 mins per goal contribution

All Major Tournament Knockouts

Messi Stats All Major Tournament Knockouts All Time Argentina

10 Goals
18 Assists
28 Apps

265 mins per goal
95 mins per goal contribution

Ronaldo Stats All Major Tournament Knockouts All Time Portugal

3 Goals
2 Assists
19 Apps

530 mins per goal
318 mins per goal contribution

World Cup Qualifiers

Messi Stats World Cup Qualifiers All Time Argentina

28 Goals
10 Assists
60 Apps

180 mins per goal
133 mins per goal contribution

Ronaldo Stats World Cup Qualifiers All Time Portugal

36 Goals
11 Assists
47 Apps

111 mins per goal
85 mins per goal contribution

European Championship Qualifiers

Messi Stats Euros Qualifier All Time Argentina

0 Goals
0 Assists
0 Apps

0 goals per game

Ronaldo Stats Euros Qualifier All Time Portugal

31 Goals
3 Assists
35 Apps

98 mins per goal
89 mins per goal contribution

Confederations Cup

Messi Stats Confederations Cup All Time Argentina

0 Goals
0 Assists
0 Apps

0 goals per game

Ronaldo Stats Confederations Cup All Time Portugal

2 Goals
1 Assists
4 Apps

184 mins per goal
122 mins per goal contribution

UEFA Nations League

Messi Stats UEFA Nations League All Time Argentina

0 Goals
0 Assists
0 Apps

0 goals per game

Ronaldo Stats UEFA Nations League All Time Portugal

7 Goals
1 Assists
11 Apps

131 mins per goal
115 mins per goal contribution

Finalissima

Messi Stats Finalissima All Time Argentina

0 Goals
2 Assists
1 Apps

0 goals per game
45 mins per goal contribution

Ronaldo Stats Finalissima All Time Portugal

0 Goals
0 Assists
0 Apps

0 goals per game

Messi and Ronaldo International Stats

All stats on this page will auto-update

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have both had impressive international careers for Argentina and Portugal respectively.

Messi is Argentina's all time top goalscorer with 98 goals in 172 caps, scoring 0.57 goals per game. He's also Argentina's all time top provider with 53 assists.

Likewise, Ronaldo is Portugal's all time leading goalscorer with an incredible 118 goals in 196 caps, scoring an average of 0.60 goals per game.

If we look at minutes played, Messi scores a goal every 145.7 minutes, whilst Ronaldo scores a goal every 131.4 minutes.

Factoring in assists, Messi directly contributes to a goal every 94.5 minutes for Argentina, with Ronaldo scoring or assisting every 102.7 minutes for Portugal.

Clearly, both players have contributed to their national teams significantly and prolifically, and have done so for over 15 years.

International Trophies

Cristiano Ronaldo has reached two major international finals with Portugal, both at the European Championships. His first, way back in 2004, saw his Portugal side stunned on home soil against pre-tournament outsiders Greece, who ran out 1-0 winners.

His second major final took place in Paris 12 years later, where this time the favoured team on home soil was the opposition: France. Unfortunately for Ronaldo, he suffered an injury after just eight minutes and eventually had to be substituted in the 25th minute. More fortunately though, after a tense goalless ninety minutes, Portugal's Eder struck the winning goal in extra-time from 25 yards. Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo were European champions for the first time.

In 2019, Portugal also won the very first edition of the UEFA Nations League, a brand new competition brought in to replace stale international friendlies. Ronaldo played no part in the four group stage matches, but when Portugal qualified for the semi-final stage, he came back with a bang, scoring a hat-trick to beat Switzerland 3-1 and put Portugal in the final. There they faced the Netherlands, with Gonçalo Guedes scoring the game's only goal.

Not a Euros or a World Cup, but a 2nd international trophy for Ronaldo in 4 years nonetheless.

Ronaldo's International Finals

❌ Euro 2004 - 0-1 vs Greece
🏆 Euro 2016 - 1-0 (AET) vs France
🏆 UEFA Nations League 2019 - 1-0 vs Netherlands

Messi's International Finals

🏆 U20 World Cup - 2-1 vs Nigeria
❌ Copa America 2007 - 0-3 vs Brazil
🏆 Beijing Olympics 2008 (U23) - 1-0 vs Nigeria
❌ World Cup 2014 - 0-1 (AET) vs Germany
❌ Copa America 2015 - 0-0 vs Chile (1-4 pens)
❌ Copa America 2016 - 0-0 vs Chile (2-4 pens)
🏆 Copa America 2021 - 1-0 vs Brazil
🏆 Finalissima 2022 - 3-0 vs Italy
🏆 World Cup 2022 - 3-3 vs France (4-2 pens)

Messi's long awaited international triumph with the full senior Argentina team came at the 2021 Copa America, where his Argentina side beat favourites Brazil in the final at the Maracana. This ended Brazil's 46 year long ubeaten run in Copa America matches on home soil, and ended Argentina's 28 year major trophy drought! Messi also picked up the tournament's awards for Best Player and the Golden Boot.

In 2022, he then won the Finalissima aginst European champions Italy before finally getting his hands on the big one later that year! Messi scored 2 goals in the final as his Argentina side beat France on penalties after a 3-3 draw to lift the World Cup! Messi also picked up the Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player, as well as the Silver Boot for finishing as the 2nd top scorer.

Looking beyond Leo Messi's six major finals, he also competed in the 2008 Olympics, where an U23 Argentina side (plus three over age players) won every game en route to the Gold Medal.

In addition to this, Messi also won the FIFA U20 World Cup in 2005, scoring a Golden Boot winning 6 goals (including 2 in the final) along the way.

International Tournament Goals & Assists

Ronaldo made his major tournament debut on home soil at Euro 2004, in which he scored 2 goals and made it all the way to the final before a shock defeat to Greece. Messi debuted at the 2006 World Cup, where he scored 13 minutes into his first appearance; further goals scored at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups granted Messi the unique record of being the only player to score at a World Cup in his teens, twenties and thirties.

Messi Major International Tournament Goals & Assists

Tournament	Goals (Group/KO)	Assists (Group/KO)	Apps (Group/KO)	Out in	Awards
World Cup 2006	1 (1/0)	1 (1/0)	3 (2/1)	Quarters (pens)
Copa America 2007	2 (0/2)	1 (1/0)	6 (3/3)	Final	Best Young Player
World Cup 2010	0 (0/0)	1 (0/1)	5 (3/2)	Quarters	1 MOTM
Copa America 2011	0 (0/0)	3 (2/1)	4 (3/1)	Quarters (pens)	2 MOTM
World Cup 2014	4 (4/0)	1 (0/1)	7 (3/4)	Final (aet)	Golden Ball, 4 MOTM
Copa America 2015	1 (1/0)	3 (0/3)	6 (3/3)	Final (pens)	Best Player, 4 MOTM
Copa America 2016	5 (3/2)	4 (0/4)	5 (2/3)	Final (pens)	3 MOTM
World Cup 2018	1 (1/0)	2 (0/2)	4 (3/1)	Last 16	1 MOTM
Copa America 2019	1 (1/0)	1 (0/1)	6 (3/3)	Semis	1 MOTM
Copa America 2021	4 (3/1)	5 (2/3)	7 (4/3)	Winners	Best Player, Golden Boot, 4 MOTM
World Cup 2022	7 (2/5)	3 (1/2)	7 (3/4)	Winners	Golden Ball, Silver Boot, 5 MOTM
TOTALS	26 (16/10)	25 (7/18)	60 (32/28)		4 best player, 1 Golden Boot, 1 Silver Boot, 25 MOTM

Interestingly, Messi has scored the majority of his goals in the group stages at international tournaments, but has made considerably more assists in the knockout rounds, with 18 of his 25 assists being provided in the knockout stages.

Having played in 11 major international tournaments, Messi actually has the record for the most goals contributions in major tournament history, both overall and in the knockout rounds specifically.

He also has the record for most goal contributions in the history of the World Cup, with his 13 goals and 8 assists surpassing Pele's 12 goals and 8 assists.

Ronaldo Major International Tournament Goals & Assists

Tournament	Goals (Group/KO)	Assists (Group/KO)	Apps (Group/KO)	Out in	Awards
Euro 2004	2 (1/1)	2 (1/1)	6 (3/3)	Final
World Cup 2006	1 (1/0)	0 (0/0)	6 (2/4)	Semis
Euro 2008	1 (1/0)	1 (1/0)	3 (2/1)	Quarters	1 MOTM
World Cup 2010	1 (1/0)	1 (1/0)	4 (3/1)	Last 16	3 MOTM
Euro 2012	3 (2/1)	0 (0/0)	5 (3/2)	Semis (pens)	2 MOTM
World Cup 2014	1 (1/0)	1 (1/0)	3 (3/0)	Group Stage	1 MOTM
Euro 2016	3 (2/1)	2 (1/1)	7 (3/4)	Winners (aet)	2 MOTM, Silver Boot
World Cup 2018	4 (4/0)	0 (0/0)	4 (3/1)	Last 16	2 MOTM
Euro 2021	5 (5/0)	1 (1/0)	4 (3/1)	Last 16	1 MOTM, Golden Boot
World Cup 2022	1 (1/0)	0 (0/0)	5 (3/2)	Quarters	1 MOTM
TOTALS	22 (19/3)	7 (6/2)	47 (28/19)		13 MOTM, 1 Golden Boot, 1 Silver Boot

Having played in five European Championships and reaching at least the semi-finals in 3 of them, Ronaldo has played the most games of all time in the tournament, with 25 appearances. He's also the only player to score at five different Euros, and is the all time leading scorer in the competition as well with 14 goals.

In addition to the finals tournament, Ronaldo also leads the way in qualifying too, having scored a record 31 goals in European Championship qualifiers, as well as a record 36 goals in European World Cup qualifying matches.

Cristiano Ronaldo has also now scored the most goals in the history of the international football, with a staggering 118 goals!

Messi & Ronaldo International Tournament Awards and Achievements

Lionel Messi	Cristiano Ronaldo
2022 World Cup Winner 2022 Finalissima Winner 2021 Copa America Winner 2008 Olympics Gold Medal 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup Winner 2016 Copa America Runner-up 2015 Copa America Runner-up 2014 FIFA World Cup Runner-up 2007 Copa America Runner-up 2022 World Cup Golden Ball 2022 Finalissima Best Player 2021 Copa America Golden Ball 2015 Copa America Golden Ball 2014 World Cup Golden Ball 2007 Copa America Best Young Player 2005 U20 World Cup Golden Ball 2022 World Cup Silver Boot 2021 Copa America Golden Boot 2016 Copa America 2nd Top Scorer 2005 U20 World Cup Golden Boot 2022 World Cup Top Assister (5 players on 3) 2021 Copa America Top Assister 2018 World Cup Top Assister (16 players on 2) 2016 Copa America Top Assister 2015 Copa America Top Assister 2011 Copa America Top Assister	2016 Euros Winner 2019 Nations League Winner 2004 Euros Runner-up 2021 Euros Golden Boot 2019 Nations League Finals Golden Boot 2016 Euros Silver Boot Euro 2012 joint top scorer (6 players on 3 - Torres Golden Boot) 2019 Nations League Finals Goal of the Tournament

Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo

2022 World Cup Winner
2022 Finalissima Winner
2021 Copa America Winner
2008 Olympics Gold Medal
2005 FIFA U20 World Cup Winner
2016 Copa America Runner-up
2015 Copa America Runner-up
2014 FIFA World Cup Runner-up
2007 Copa America Runner-up
2022 World Cup Golden Ball
2022 Finalissima Best Player
2021 Copa America Golden Ball
2015 Copa America Golden Ball
2014 World Cup Golden Ball
2007 Copa America Best Young Player
2005 U20 World Cup Golden Ball
2022 World Cup Silver Boot
2021 Copa America Golden Boot
2016 Copa America 2nd Top Scorer
2005 U20 World Cup Golden Boot
2022 World Cup Top Assister (5 players on 3)
2021 Copa America Top Assister
2018 World Cup Top Assister
(16 players on 2)
2016 Copa America Top Assister
2015 Copa America Top Assister
2011 Copa America Top Assister

2016 Euros Winner
2019 Nations League Winner
2004 Euros Runner-up
2021 Euros Golden Boot
2019 Nations League Finals Golden Boot
2016 Euros Silver Boot
Euro 2012 joint top scorer
(6 players on 3 - Torres Golden Boot)
2019 Nations League Finals Goal of the Tournament

Check out more of Messi and Ronaldo's international records over on the Records page.

Competitive vs Friendly International Goals

Ronaldo has scored a much greater proportion of his international goals in competitive games than Messi has, scoring 98 out of his total 118 goals in competitive internationals (83.05%). Messi has scored 54 goals out of 98 in competitive internationals (55.10%).

Messi International Goals & Assists

Competitive games: 54 goals, 37 assists, 121 caps
Friendly games: 44 goals, 16 assists, 51 caps

Ronaldo International Goals & Assists

Competitive games: 98 goals, 24 assists, 144 caps
Friendly games: 20 goals, 9 assists, 52 caps

Cristiano Ronaldo clearly has the superior goalscoring stats in competitive internationals, but we must consider the level of opposition.

Level of Competitive Opposition

One reason for the contrast in friendly/competitive goals between the two is the type of opponents they typically face. In Europe, the qualification stage for the World Cup and European Championship is split into several groups, with each group featuring a couple of extremely lowly ranked teams, such as San Marino, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, etc.

In South America on the other hand, they don't have a qualification stage for the Copa America, and World Cup qualification features a single group in which you must play all of the continent's heavyweights. There are also no real easy contests in this group (in comparison to some of the European micro-nations), with even the lowest ranked side Bolivia being an infamously tough team to play away due to the unusually high altitude level.

As a result of these contrasting situations, Ronaldo has played many more competitive fixtures against lower ranked sides than Messi has. Cristiano has scored 28 of his competitve goals against sides ranked 100 or lower, whereas Messi has 0 goals against 100+ ranked sides having played just 2 competitive games against this level of opponent.

This accounts for the huge disparity in competitive goals between the two to some degree, but even if Messi did get the opportunity to play minnows in competitive games with the same regularity as European teams do, the numbers suggest Ronaldo would still have a fairly comfortable lead in terms of competitive goals.

Updated Mar 21, 7:16 PM UTC

Messi vs Ronaldo All Time International Stats

All Time Internationals

Messi Stats All Time Internationals All Time Argentina

Ronaldo Stats All Time Internationals All Time Portugal

messivsronaldo.app All Time Internationals All Time Stats

Goal Contributions

Goals

Assists

Appearances

Minutes Played

Goals Per Game

Minutes Per Goal

Mins Per Goal/Assist

Hat-tricks

Goals By Type

Penalties

Free Kick Goals

Outside the Box

Inside the Box

Left Foot

Right Foot

Headers

Other Body Part

Performance Stats

Penalty Conversion

Competitive Internationals

Messi Stats Competitive Internationals All Time Argentina

Ronaldo Stats Competitive Internationals All Time Portugal

messivsronaldo.app Competitive Internationals All Time Stats

Goal Contributions

Goals

Assists

Appearances

Minutes Played

Goals Per Game

Minutes Per Goal

Mins Per Goal/Assist

Hat-tricks

Goals By Type

Penalties

Free Kick Goals

Outside the Box

Inside the Box

Left Foot

Right Foot

Headers

Other Body Part

Performance Stats

Penalty Conversion

International Friendlies

Messi Stats International Friendlies All Time Argentina

Ronaldo Stats International Friendlies All Time Portugal

messivsronaldo.app International Friendlies All Time Stats

Goal Contributions

Goals

Assists

Appearances

Minutes Played

Goals Per Game

Minutes Per Goal

Mins Per Goal/Assist

Hat-tricks

Goals By Type

Penalties

Free Kick Goals

Outside the Box

Inside the Box

Left Foot

Right Foot

Headers

Other Body Part

Performance Stats

Penalty Conversion

Copa America / Euros

Messi Stats Copa America / Euros All Time Argentina

Ronaldo Stats Copa America / Euros All Time Portugal

messivsronaldo.app Copa America / Euros All Time Stats

Goal Contributions

Goals

Assists