October 8, 2026
Argentine star Lionel Messi brought down the curtain on his international career with his country’s national team, which spanned more than two decades, at a time when mystery surrounds the fate of his historical rival Cristiano Ronaldo with the Portuguese national team.
Messi, 39 years old, concluded his international career with a remarkable performance in the capital, Buenos Aires, where he scored a goal and made two assists to lead Argentina to a 3-0 victory in a friendly match against Benin. On the other hand, the future of Ronaldo (41 years old) with “Al-Dahasir” has become the subject of serious questions, after he left the national team camp last week in anger, protesting his exclusion from the starting lineup and his sitting on the bench against Norway.
In a reading of the numbers of the two legends with their country’s national teams, PA Media published detailed statistics for their careers spanning more than twenty years. Messi launched his international career in 2005 against Hungary at the age of 18 years and 24 days, while Ronaldo made his first appearance for Portugal against Kazakhstan in 2003 at the age of 18 years, 6 months and 15 days.
In terms of numbers, Messi scored 126 goals in 206 matches, including 11 hat-tricks, at a goal rate every 136 minutes. On the other hand, Ronaldo scored 146 goals in 234 matches, including 10 hat-tricks, at a goal rate every 127 minutes.
Despite Ronaldo’s scoring superiority, Messi excels in playmaking by providing 69 assists, bringing his total scoring contributions to 195 at a contribution rate every 88 minutes, while Ronaldo made 45 goals, bringing his total contributions to 191 contributions at a contribution rate every 97 minutes.
As for the World Cup tournaments, the two stars participated in 6 consecutive editions between 2006 and 2026. Messi scored 21 goals in 34 matches, compared to 11 goals for Ronaldo in 27 matches.
In the record of major titles, Messi won the 2022 World Cup, in addition to the Copa America title in the 2021 and 2024 editions. On the other hand, Ronaldo won the European Nations Cup (Euro 2016) with the Portuguese national team, in addition to winning the European Nations League championship in 2019 and 2025.
