Comparing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s stats after 200 international appearances | OneFootball

Lionel Messi has joined his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo in marking his 200th international appearance with a goal. But how do the two players compare after the mammoth milestone?

Ronaldo became the first footballer in the history of men’s international football to reach 200 appearances back in June 2023. He scored an 89th-minute match-winner as Portugal beat Iceland 1-0 in a qualifier for Euro 2020.

“So happy. It’s that kind of moment that you never expect to do it, 200 caps. For me it’s an unbelievable achievement,” Ronaldo told UEFA’s website at the time.

“Of course, to score the winning goal, it’s even more special.”

When asked to pick out a particular highlight from his first 200 outings for Portugal, he couldn’t:

“It’s hard to pick just one. I’ve had so many beautiful moments. The Euro 2016, the Nations League, but there are some many beautiful moments, and that’s why I prefer to say the next game is the best one.”

Messi’s 200th appearance for Argentina was also a special one.

He opened the scoring with a belting goal in their 2026 World Cup opener against Algeria, a game that saw the 38-year-old become only the first player to appear in six World Cups. He also became the second player, after Ronaldo, to score in five World Cups.

The Argentina captain has now scored in each of his last five World Cup appearances, a record streak for an Argentinian, and he now matches Brazil’s Roberto Rivelino for the most goals scored from outside the box in World Cup history.

Messi then added a second goal on the hour mark, a simple tap-in after the Algeria goalkeeper spilled Alexis Mac Allister’s strike from distance.

After an early disallowed goal and a big penalty shout, Messi then claimed his first-ever World Cup hat-trick to tie the all-time goalscoring record with Miroslav Klose.

Here’s how Messi and Ronaldo compare after reaching 200 appearances for their respective national teams:

Cristiano Ronaldo