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Cristiano Ronaldo scored in a sixth-consecutive Euro 2020 qualifier game as defending champions Portugal sealed qualification for the quadrennial tournament next summer courtesy a 2-0 away win in Luxembourg.
In the process, Ronaldo brought up his 99th international goal in 164 games. That is the second-highest tally of goals scored by any player for any country, behind Ali Daei's 109 goals for Iran.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi scored his fifth goal against Brazil as the diminutive Argentinian improved his goal tally for the Albiceleste to 70. That is 15th best in the all-time list, and third-best among active players.
Let us analyse the goals scored by the prolific duo in terms of numbers, level of opposition and competition to try and find out who has the better numbers under various parameters:
No. of countries scored against as a ratio of no. of total countries faced
Messi has faced 49 different national teams in his career, scoring against 25 of them, for a scoring rate of 51% against all national opposition faced.
The corresponding numbers for Ronaldo are 41 out of 69, for a scoring rate of 60% against all national teams faced.
ADVANTAGE: Ronaldo
Goals per game
Messi has scored his 70 international goals for Argentina in 138 games, at a rate of 0.51 goals per game.
Ronaldo has scored his 99 goals for Portugal in 164 games, at a rate of 0.60 per game.
ADVANTAGE: Ronaldo
Competitive goals as % of total goals scored
Messi has scored 21 goals in FIFA World Cup qualifying, 9 goals at the Copa America, and 6 goals at the FIFA World Cup. That makes it a total of 36 competitive goals, which is 51% (36/70) of all goals scored by the Argentina captain.
Ronaldo has scored 30 goals in FIFA World Cup qualifying, 31 goals in UEFA Euro qualifiers, 7 goals at the World Cup, 9 goals at the Euros, 3 goals in the UEFA Nations League, and 2 at the FIFA Confederations Cup. That adds up to a total of 82 goals in competitive fixtures, which is 83% of all goals scored by the Portugal captain.
ADVANTAGE: Ronaldo
International titles
Messi's lone titles for Argentina have come at the U-21 FIFA World Cup and the 2008 Summer Olympics (U-23).
In 9 major tournaments (4 FIFA World Cups and 5 Copa America editions) for the senior team, Messi is yet to win an international title. He fell short in the finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup (against Germany), 2015 and 2016 Copa America (both times to Chile).
On the other hand, Ronaldo has won the Euro 2016 and the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League in 10 international tournaments for Portugal (4 Euros, 4 FIFA World Cups, 1 FIFA Confederations Cup and 1 UEFA Nations League).
ADVANTAGE: Ronaldo
Goals scored by opponent team ranking
As per the latest FIFA World rankings dated 24 October 2019, Messi has scored 69% (48/70) of his goals against opposition teams ranked in the top 50, which includes 19 goals (27%) against top 10 opposition.
The corresponding figure for Ronaldo is 47% (47/99). The Portugal captain has scored 8 goals against teams ranked in the top 10 which is 8% of his total international goal tally.
ADVANTAGE: Messi
International hat-tricks
Messi has scored 6 international hat-tricks for Argentina, which includes hat-tricks against Switzerland, Brazil, Guatamala and Haiti in friendlies, and a hat-trick apiece in FIFA World Cup qualifying and at the Copa America.
Ronaldo has scored 9 international hat-tricks for Portugal, scoring 3 in Euro qualifying, 4 in FIFA World Cup qualifying (including play-off), 1 at the FIFA World Cup and 1 in the UEFA Nations League.
ADVANTAGE: Ronaldo
Conclusion
Though both Messi and Ronaldo are prolific goal-scorers in international football, the Portugal captain's superior numbers in a number of parameters like higher goals per game, higher % of goals scored in competitive fixtures and more international titles won gives him a clear edge.
Also check out: Seria A table La liga table 2019-20 Champions league top scorers
