The story of two players who defined an era in football is not yet complete. A chapter of their head-to-head clash in the biggest tournament in world football is yet to be written.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated world football for nearly two decades. Although there is no personal rivalry between the two legends of world football, fans are divided. Messi and Ronaldo fans try to show their 'rivalry' by presenting their successes, failures and statistics.
Messi and Ronaldo, who played for Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga, have faced each other many times. Argentina and Portugal have rarely competed. They have never faced each other in the World Cup. The last time Portugal and Argentina met was in 2014 in an international friendly. Portugal won the match 1-0. Both players, who played for only 45 minutes, failed to score. Before that, in a friendly match in 2011, when Argentina won 2-1, Messi and Ronaldo both scored a goal .
The last time they played in a friendly match was on January 19, 2023, in Riyadh. Messi PSG and Ronaldo represented the Riyadh All-Star XI in Riyadh. PSG won the high-scoring match 5-4 . Messi scored in the third minute of the match, while Ronaldo scored twice . They were on the field for only about 60 minutes .
The last official match was on December 8, 2020 . Messi and Ronaldo faced each other at the Nou Camp in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League . Ronaldo played for Juventus and Messi for Barcelona . Barca won the match 3-0 .
Messi and Ronaldo both retired from European football in 2023. Messi left PSG and Ronaldo joined Inter Miami in the US and Ronaldo joined Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
Both players made their World Cup debuts in Germany in 2006. Having never competed in a World Cup before, what are the chances of them facing each other this time? The answer is not so simple. Argentina and Portugal already know which path they will have to take to get through their groups and the group stage of the tournament. A meeting between the two teams is not certain, but the format of this year's tournament leaves the door open to a possibility that has seemed unlikely for years.
Argentina is in Group 'J' along with Jordan, Austria and Algeria. Lionel Scanloni's Argentina will play their first match against Algeria on Wednesday morning. They will play their second match against Austria on June 22 and their final group match against Jordan on June 28. Portugal, who are in Group K, will play their first match against DR Congo on June 17. They will play against Uzbekistan on June 23 and Colombia on June 27 in their final group match. Both teams are considered strong contenders to reach the knockout stage. But the World Cup does not always go according to the expected script. Unexpected results can occur at every stage. Spain was held to a draw by Cabo Verde. Four-time world champions Italy failed to qualify at all.
If Argentina and Portugal top their groups and advance to the Round of 32 and Round of 16, the two teams could meet in the quarter-finals. This is the most direct route for Messi and Ronaldo to face each other for the first time at the World Cup. But even that journey is far from certain. Both nations will have to prove themselves as title contenders and overcome other strong teams aiming to reach the finals.
This is more of a wish for Messi and Ronaldo fans than a possibility. It is more of a prediction than a reality within the tournament's framework. Such a possibility, which can only be realised if results, performances and both teams can survive the early knockout stages to keep their campaigns alive.
But one thing is certain: the story of two players who defined an era in football is not yet complete. A chapter of their direct confrontation in the biggest tournament in world football is yet to be written.
Messi and Ronaldo in the World Cup
Messi has played 26 games in 5 editions of the World Cup so far. In which 13 goals and 8 assists are recorded in his name. In the 2022 World Cup, Argentina led by Messi became the champion. Similarly, Ronaldo has scored 8 goals and 2 assists in 22 games in the World Cup.
Messi also has the opportunity to break the record of German player Miroslav Klose this time. Klose has scored 16 goals in the World Cup. Then, Messi is followed by French star Kylian Mbappe. He has a record of 12 goals in his name.
Portugal's best result so far is fourth place in 2006, the year Ronaldo debuted. However, Ronaldo was able to lead Portugal to the Euro Cup title in 2016. However, Portugal managed to finish third in the 1966 World Cup.
-With the help of media outlets including Marca,
