Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi redefined football and left an indelible mark on every team they played for, continuing to shine not only with their respective national teams, but also with Al Nasr and Inter Miami respectively.
Both are the all-time leading international scorers, with the Portuguese ahead of the Argentine with 965 and 901 goals respectively. But some national teams are suffering more than others.
Messi and CR7’s favorite victims
Although the situations are different, with Lionel mainly playing against South American teams and Cristiano playing against European teams, there are similarities. That said, both have scored over 100 goals for Argentina and Portugal, and have exceptional scoring consistency against certain rivals.
Leo has already scored 114 goals for Albiceleste and CR7 has scored 143 for Portugal, but some of their goals have found the back of the net against a particular national team who are arguably the most punishing in terms of goalscoring.
For the Argentine captain, Bolivia were the team that conceded the most goals, conceding a total of 11 goals against the ‘number one’ team. 10.” Ecuador comes in second with eight, followed by Uruguay with six, followed by Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela and Estonia with five each.
These teams were almost all CONMEBOL teams, and they were the ones that suffered the most at Lionel’s hands, especially in World Cup qualifiers and regional tournaments.
Meanwhile, the 41-year-old Portuguese star tormented Luxembourg with 11 goals, much like Leo did against Bolivia. Hungary is second with 9, followed by Lithuania and Sweden with 7, while Andorra and Armenia are struggling with 6 of CR7.
On the other hand, these numbers reflect not only talent, but also longevity and consistency. Of course, at club level, other teams also find their goals deadly, but both have a common victim: Sevilla. Leo scored 38 goals against them, and Cristiano 27.
Their numbers spread across various national teams and tournaments, sparking rivalries that will continue to be a topic of discussion even after their retirement.
Cristiano and Lionel World Cup
Both players are preparing for their sixth appearance in the 2026 World Cup, to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19, making them the only players in history to have played so many times.
Portugal will face Colombia and Uzbekistan in Group K, and the winner of the intercontinental play-off between Jamaica, Congo and New Caledonia. On Wednesday 17 June, Portugal will play their first match against the winners of the intercontinental play-off. They will play against Uzbekistan on June 23rd (Tuesday) and Colombia on June 27th (Saturday).
Argentina will emerge as the defending champions and will have to defend their title. In Group J, they will face Algeria on Tuesday, June 16th at Kansas City Stadium. They will then face Austria on Monday, June 22nd at Dallas Stadium, and Jordan on Saturday, June 27th.
Prior to that, Messi’s Albiceleste will play a FIFA double-header friendly against Mauritania on March 27th and Zambia on March 31st. Both matches will be held at La Bombonera Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese captain was scheduled to play against Mexico at Banorte Stadium on March 28th and against the USMNT at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on March 31st, but a hamstring injury intervened and he will not be with the team.
