Lionel Messi v Cristiano Ronaldo: Who has missed more penalties? Record compared after Inter Miami captain misses Panenka kick

Lionel Messi's recent penalty miss has sparked comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo's record from the penalty spot. The Inter Miami maestro stepped up to take the 145th penalty of his career against Charlotte on Saturday, September 13, in the MLS.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner tried to catch opposition goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina off guard by attempting a Panenka, but it was easily read by the Croatian. La Pulga's 32nd penalty miss of his career proved to be a decisive turning point in the game, with the Herons losing the game 3-0.

The penalty miss also broke a scoring streak from the spot that lasted almost three years. Lionel Messi's last penalty miss was against Poland in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

La Pulga was criticized by fans for his performance in the weekend's MLS game. The Argentine now has a 77.93% penalty conversion rate, but is falls short in comparison to his bitter rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner's rivalry with the 38-year-old has kept football fans on their toes for almost two decades. The Portuguese, interestingly, has missed just 33 out of an attempted 210 penalties, and boasts a 84.29% conversion rate.

The 40-year-old's prowess from the penalty spot has been well documented throughout his career. He is regarded by many as one of the best ever to set foot on the football pitch.

How many goals have Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi scored in their career?

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are goalscoring demons who have pushed each other to the limits of excellence during their career. The Argentinean has scored 879 goals from 1121 games in his career.

La Pulga is also well known for his creative abilities and has set up 389 goals so far for club and country. The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner is the record goalscorer for Argentina and Barcelona as well.

Lionel Messi has also found the back of the net 61 times from 74 games in all competitions for Inter Miami so far. Interestingly, only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals than the Argentine in international football.

The Portuguese is edging closer to the fabled 1000 goal mark. The 40-year-old boasts 943 goals from 1287 appearances for club and country to date.

Ronaldo is also Real Madrid's record goalscorer, with 451 goals from 438 games. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has also scored more 100 goals for Manchester United, Juventus, Portugal, and his current club Al- Nassr.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over seven years at Sportskeeda. He has written nearly 10000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 21 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Deepungsu Pandit