Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi: Comparing international goal record of CR7 and Leo

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continue their goal-scoring spree in international football with both the players scoring goals in their country's friendly fixture. While Messi scored five goals against Estonia, Ronaldo scored a crucial brace in Portugal's win over Switzerland. In this Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi battle, let's take a look at the player who has scored maximum goals. 

Messi vs Ronaldo: Who has scored maximum international goals?

With five goals against Estonia, Lionel Messi matched his career-best performance at the club and international level. The Argentina skipper had previously smashed five goals against Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League in 2012 while playing for Barcelona.

The five-goal performance against Estonia made Argentina's captain just the third player to score five goals in a single match. Before Messi, Juan Andres Marvezy and Manuel Moreno had achieved the feat. The PSG star has also extended his tally of goals in international football to 86. Messi is the first man in history to score five goals in both a European Cup/Champions League game and an international game.

Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, failed to score a hattrick against Switzerland. By scoring two goals against Switzerland, the Manchester United star has extended his goal tally to 117 international goals. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is the all-time leading goal-scorer in international football. Besides the goal-scoring record, both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have scored 58 freekicks each in their career so far. Both of them have scored two in a single match on three occasions. 

Messi vs Ronaldo: Other milestones achieved by Lionel Messi 

Lionel Messi is the first player in the history of Argentina to score five goals in one game. The Argentina skipper scored his eighth hat-trick for the national team, and his 56th career hat-trick. He is now four behind long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo. With his latest five-goal haul, Messi has now surpassed Hungary legend Ferenc Puskas for international goals.

Following the five-goal performance, Lionel Messi is now nine goals ahead of Pele’s total of 77 goals for Brazil. He’s also now moved ahead of Pele for total career goals – 769 to the Brazilian icon’s 767. No player in the history of football has more goals and assists than Messi. He’s now reached the milestone of 1100 direct goal contributions – 769 goals and 331 assists in 974 appearances for club and country.