Ronaldo surpasses Messi with 1,200 contributions!

Portugal kicked off their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a resounding 5-0 victory over Armenia, with star Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a brace to extend his exceptional scoring record for his country. The Portugal captain took his international tally to 140 goals in 222 appearances, continuing to pull clear of his closest rival, Lionel Messi, who has 114 goals for Argentina. Ronaldo's tally in European World Cup qualifiers now stands at 38, surpassing Messi's 36 goals in the South American qualifiers. The statistics reflect the continued historic rivalry between the two stars; Ronaldo now has 49 goal contributions in the qualifiers, with 38 goals and 11 assists in 48 matches, while Messi reached the same number in 72 matches, scoring 36 goals and providing 13 assists. With his latest brace, the Al-Nassr striker is just 58 goals away from reaching 1,000 career goals, having reached 942 goals in 1,285 matches for club and country. Messi, the Inter Miami star, has now scored 879 goals in 1,120 matches. Ronaldo also achieved another milestone by reaching 1,200 career contributions (942 goals and 258 assists), at a rate of approximately 0.93 contributions per game. Messi, meanwhile, remains ahead in terms of average, having reached 1,268 contributions (879 goals and 389 assists), at a rate of 1.13 per game.