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#2 Better stats with his national team as compared to Messi
The decade saw the rise of Messi and Ronaldo to the pinnacle of the footballing world, both with their clubs and with their national teams as well.
Both prolific forwards became the all-time leading top scorers for their respective national sides, taking their tally to 70 with Argentina and 99 with Portugal respectively.
Since the turn of the decade, Ronaldo has scored a total of 77 goals for his country, seven more than Messi's lifetime tally and had four years in the decade in which he posted double-digit figures.
Interestingly, he was the most lethal in front of the goal in the final year of the decade, 2019, scoring 14 goals, which included his recent exploits in the EURO 2020 qualification rounds.
Although Messi had taken two short breaks away from the international fold, which might've hurt his chances to catch up with Ronaldo, it should be noted that Best Portuguese Player of All Time had also missed out six games after his UEFA Nations League triumph in June.
