Lionel Messi has made history again. On a special night to commemorate the inauguration of the new stadium and Round 6 of the MLS season, Leo scored his 903rd career goal and his fifth of the season, following his goal in the 2-2 draw against Austin FC.
He is currently approaching the 1,000-goal milestone, with Cristiano Ronaldo the only other rival to still score.
The race for 1,000 goals is here between Messi and CR7
This Saturday, April 4, the 38-year-old Argentine captain reached 903 goals in 1,146 games. Leo is now 97 goals away from reaching 1,000 career goals.
Most of the number 10’s goals came during his time at Barcelona, where he scored 672 goals. He went on to add another 32 goals for Paris Saint-Germain, and has already scored 83 for Inter Miami. He also scored 116 goals for the Argentina national team. His last goal came on March 31 in an international friendly against Zambia.
As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he just finished a double celebration on Friday, April 3, by scoring two goals for Al Nasr against Al Najma. CR7 now has 967 goals in 1,313 games and is 33 goals away from reaching 1,000.
This match also marked the return of El Bicho, who had been forced to come on as a substitute (hamstring injury) since the win (3-1) against Al Faiha on February 28th.
Throughout his career, the Portuguese forward has scored 450 goals for Real Madrid, 145 for Manchester United, 101 for Juventus, 123 for Al Nasr and five for Sporting CP. Additionally, he has scored 143 goals for the Portuguese national team.
Only time will tell if he can score the remaining goals from now until the end of his career.
Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup: it will be historic
Lionel has yet to announce his participation in soccer’s biggest tournament, to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 12, but if he does, he will join Cristiano as the only players to have appeared in six World Cups.
What’s more, this tournament could be the “last dance” of the World Cup for both sides, marking the end of an era of monopoly on plays, goals and talent.
Messi leads all players in World Cup history with 26 appearances, appearing in Germany in 2006, South Africa in 2010, Brazil in 2014, Russia in 2018, and Qatar in 2022, where he was crowned champion.
Ronaldo has played 22 games in Germany (2006), South Africa (2010), Brazil (2014), Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022), ranking him fifth behind Lothar Matthäus, Miroslav Klose and Paolo Maldini.
Argentina, on the other hand, will defend the title they won in 2022. They will take the lead in Group J, which includes Austria, Algeria and Jordan. 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.
Portugal will face Colombia, Uzbekistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Group K. On Wednesday 17 June, Portugal will play their first match against the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They will play against Uzbekistan on June 23rd (Tuesday) and Colombia on June 27th (Saturday).
