❌ Copa America 2016 - 0-0 vs Chile (2-4 pens).❌ Copa America 2015 - 0-0 vs Chile (1-4 pens).❌ World Cup 2014 - 0-1 (AET) vs Germany.? Beijing Olympics 2008 (U23) - 1-0 vs Nigeria.? UEFA Nations League 2019 - 1-0 vs Netherlands.Not a Euros or a World Cup, but a 2nd international trophy for Ronaldo in 4 years nonetheless. There they faced the Netherlands, with Gonçalo Guedes scoring the game's only goal. Ronaldo played no part in the four group stage matches, but when Portugal qualified for the semi-final stage, he came back with a bang, scoring a hat-trick to beat Switzerland 3-1 and put Portugal in the final. In 2019, Portugal also won the very first edition of the UEFA Nations League, a brand new competition brought in to replace stale international friendlies. Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo were European champions for the first time. More fortunately though, after a tense goalless ninety minutes, Portugal's Eder struck the winning goal in extra-time from 25 yards. Unfortunately for Ronaldo, he suffered an injury after just eight minutes and eventually had to be substituted in the 25th minute. His second major final took place in Paris 12 years later, where this time the favoured team on home soil was the opposition: France. His first, way back in 2004, saw his Portugal side stunned on home soil against pre-tournament outsiders Greece, who ran out 1-0 winners. Ronaldo has reached two major international finals with Portugal, both at the European Championships. This is borne out in the fact that Messi has provided a whopping 47 assists on top of his 80 goals. Leo Messi also tends to adopt the traditional Argentine Enganche role of a playmaking number 10 more often for his country, with the team's primary goal threats playing ahead of him. Not to mention that 0.5 goals per game is the yardstick typically used to measure elite strikers. However, the same is true for Ronaldo, with his 0.63 goals per game considerably lower than his club level averages. It's probable that some well-meaning individuals fall into the "Messi has never done it at international level" trap because his goal return of 0.51 goals per game is significantly lower than what he registers at club level. The results of his 5 major finals do not make Messi a better or worse player for Argentina. Of course, it was never accurate to suggest Messi had "never done it" at international level just because his side regularly made the top 2, but not the top 1. However, he was finally able to triumph with his country in his 5th major final, beating Brazil in the 2021 Copa America final at the Maracana. This narrative materialised through Messi's unfortunate record of having lost 4 major international finals with Argentina. "Messi has never done it at international level" Dispelling the Messi mythĪ popular narrative that used to be quite prominent was that: If we look at minutes played, Messi scores a goal every 163.2 minutes, whilst Ronaldo scores a goal every 127.4 minutes.įactoring in assists, Messi directly contributes to a goal every 102.8 minutes for Argentina, with Ronaldo scoring or assisting every 100.3 minutes for Portugal.Ĭlearly, both players have contributed to their national teams significantly and prolifically, and have done so for over 15 years. Likewise, Ronaldo is Portugal's all time leading goalscorer with an incredible 115 goals in 184 caps, scoring an average of 0.63 goals per game. He's also Argentina's all time top provider with 47 assists. Messi is Argentina's all time top goalscorer with 80 goals in 158 caps, scoring 0.51 goals per game. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have both had impressive international careers for Argentina and Portugal respectively.