The Two International Games Lionel Messi Played Against Cristiano Ronaldo

Stories about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the international break, with the former calling time on his Argentina career and the latter seemingly on the brink of ending his with Portugal.

While Messi is definitively retired, Ronaldo’s story remains up in the air for now. Regardless, it will not be much longer before the two greats of the modern game are being talked about only in the past tense.

Messi and Ronaldo’s rivalry defined an age in soccer. At club level, they faced off regularly for Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga and the Champions League. Yet curiously, in 442 collective international appearances, the two players only met twice—and never in a competitive fixture.

Messi vs. Ronaldo Complete H2H Record

Stat	Messi	Ronaldo
Wins	16	11
Draws	9	9
Defeats	11	16
Win %	44	30.5

Much to the chagrin of many World Cup organizers and sponsors, Portugal and Argentina never crossed paths once between the years 2006 and 2026, when both players were active at the tournament.

The closest they came to a showdown in six World Cups came in 2018 when Portugal and Argentina would’ve met in the quarterfinal in Nizhny Novgorod, but both teams ended up losing their preceding Round of 16 fixtures against Uruguay and France, respectively.

In the end, the only times Messi and Ronaldo ever played one another at international level was in two exhibition matches in 2011 and 2014.

Argentina 2–1 Portugal (February, 2011)

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi. — The first meeting of Ronaldo and Messi was a thriller. | Ben Radford/Corbis/Getty Images

Argentina Starting XI: Romero; Znetti, Burdisso, Milito, Rojo; Banega, Cambiasso, Mascherano; Di María, Lavezzi, Messi (Subs: Gago, Zabaleta, Pastore, Biglia, Martinez)

Portugal Starting XI: Eduardo; Pereria, Alves, Rolando, Coentrão; Martins, Moutinho, Meireles; Nani, Almeida, Ronaldo (Subs: Patrício, Danny, Postiga, Quaresma, Veloso, Machado)

The first meeting of the pair came at the height of their Barcelona-Real Madrid glory years.

Already a Champions League winner with Barça, Messi would end the 2010-11 campaign with Europe’s biggest trophy once again, as well as his third successive Ballon d’Or. Meanwhile, Ronaldo was on course for a staggering season of scoring with 53 goals and 54 games under José Mourinho.

The glamorous, money-spinning battle of world’s best took place during the February international break in Geneva of all places, with Messi coming out on top in a thrilling back-and-forth encounter.

The Argentina star threaded through the pass for Ángel Di María for his side’s opener after quarter of an hour. While Ronaldo equalized shortly after, the night belonged to Messi who won the match from the penalty spot late in the second half.

Speaking after the match Messi tried to play down the rivalry, saying: “This wasn’t a game between Barcelona and Real Madrid or between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We don't compete with each other to see who is the better player, we do so for the benefit of our teams.”

Argentina 0–1 Portugal (November, 2014)

Argentina Starting XI: Romero; Roncaglia, Otamendi, Demichelis, Ansaldi; Mascherano, Biglia; Messi, Pastore, Di María; Higuaín (Subs: Gaitán, Lamela, Tevez, Pereyra, Silva)

Portugal Starting XI: Beto; Bosingwa, Alves, Pepe, Gomes; Nani, Mendes, Gomes, Moutinho; Danny, Ronaldo (Subs: Fonte, Guerreiro, Carvalho, Silva, Quaresma, Éder)

Almost four years later, Messi and Ronaldo lined up against one another again for another eye-catching exhibition—this time at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Going into the match, Ronaldo was on the ascendency as the Ballon d’Or holder and fresh from Real Madrid’s first Champions League crown in 12 years. Messi, meanwhile, had won the Golden Ball at the 2014 World Cup as the tournament’s best player, but left Brazil a beaten finalist.

The match itself was a little piece of history, but not an entertaining one. Ultimately a drab affair, it was decided by stoppage-time header from substitute Raphaël Guerreiro long after the two men the majority of the fans had come to see had already left the pitch.

Messi and Ronaldo played only the first 45 of the match in front of a half full stadium before being substituted. While Ronaldo was greeted with a warm reception by the fans as a returning Manchester United great, a smattering of boos rang out from frustrated fans by the break after an uneventful opening half.

At that point, no-one would’ve known that the two would never share a pitch for their countries again.

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