Messi vs Ronaldo can easily be termed as the debate of the century. However, there is no clear answer to the debate and depends upon an individual’s perspective. Moreover, a comparison of data only shows the numbers and doesn’t exactly define the match situation. But, anyways one cannot deny the numbers, hence, we will be analysing the international performances of these two great players concerning goals.
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Messi vs Ronaldo: International goals breakdown
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andres Messi is with Argentina national team for 16 seasons at a stretch. In these 16 seasons, he has taken the pitch in 151 matches wearing white and blue. Moreover, in 151 appearances he has 76 goals to his name with an average goal per game of 0.5. Messi has played a total of 12,503 minutes and scored a goal every 164.5 minutes. However, when it comes to minutes per goal or assist the number intensifies with 101.7. Meanwhile, Messi has 47 assists and he does that every 265’38”.
Messi has faced 49 different national teams in his career, scoring against 30 of them, for a scoring rate of 61.22% against all national opposition faced.
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Leo Messi’s score tally against all teams:
6 goals: Ecuador
5 goals: Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia
4 goals: Venezuela, Chile
3 goals: Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Switzerland
2 goals: Algeria, Croatia, Hong Kong, Nicaragua, Spain
1 goal: Albania, Bosnia, France, Germany, Iran, Peru, Portugal, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, United States.
To Conclude, 30 (39.47%) of Leo Messi’s 76 international goals have come against one of the world’s best teams based on the FIFA ranking.
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Breakdown of goals scored on the basis of body parts:
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Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo on the other hand has played 2 more seasons (18 seasons) in the International arena than Messi. As a result, he has played 28 more matches than his Argentine competitor with 179 appearances under his belt. Cristiano Ronaldo is also the joint top scorer in the world with Ali Daei at 109 international goals. He has an average goal per game of 0.61. Ronaldo has played a total of 14,246 minutes and scored a goal every 130.7 minutes. He is also pretty close when it comes to minutes per goal or assist with 101.8. However, Ronaldo falls behind when it comes to creating abilities as he is 15 assists behind the Argentine maestro with just 32 assists counting at 447’08” which is 181’29” less than Leo Messi.
Ronaldo has faced 69 different national teams and registered his name on the scoresheet against 44 countries. He has a scoring rate of 60% against all national teams faced.
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Cristiano Ronaldo’s score tally against all teams:
7 goals: Lithuania, Sweden
6 goals: Andorra, Hungary, Luxembourg
5 goals: Armenia, Latvia
4 goals: Estonia, Faroe Islands, the Netherlands
3 goals: Belgium, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland
2 goals: Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Cameroon, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Kazakhstan
1 goal: Argentina, Croatia, Ecuador, Finland, Ghana, Greece, Germany, Iceland, Iran, Morocco, New Zealand, North Korea, Panama, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Wales.
To conclude, 33 (30.28%) of Cristiano Ronaldo’s 109 international goals have come against one of the world’s best teams based on the FIFA ranking.
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Breakdown of goals scored on the basis of body parts:
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