This summer's World Cup finals in Russia are special for more than one reason, as it may be the last time that eternal rivals Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will feature in the competition – and one last chance for either player to lift the trophy with their respective nation.
The opening fixtures of the competition did not disappoint, as Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Portugal rivals Spain – including a penalty – to earn a 3-3 draw, while Messi missed the chance to take a 2-1 lead over Iceland with Argentina when he missed a spot-kick.
All eyes were on Messi regardless following the Ronaldo masterclass and his penalty miss will only deepen the blow.
But how do Messi and Ronaldo's career penalty records compare? Goal takes a look.
Messi's penalty record
Messi is Barcelona's go-to penalty-taker and has a strong record, scoring 81 per cent of his goals in La Liga. He will be forever haunted by the memory of missing a penalty in the shootout against Chile in the 2016 Copa America, where he lost 4-2.
Russia is potentially his last and best chance to finally win a World Cup with Argentina – he has never won a major honour with his international side – and the miss against Iceland, who his side should have won against comfortably, is an abysmal way to start that campaign.
So how accurate is Messi at penalties and how many penalties has he scored?
| Competition | Penalty Goals | Penalties Taken | Accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Liga | 48 | 59 | 81.35% |
| Champions League | 11 | 14 | 78.54% |
| International | 12 | 16 | 75.00% |
| Total | 71 | 88 | 80.68% |
What percentage of Messi's goals are penalties?
| Competition | Penalty Goals | Total Goals | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Liga | 48 | 383 | 12.53% |
| Champions League | 11 | 100 | 11% |
| International | 12 | 64 | 18.75% |
| Total | 71 | 547 | 12.97% |
Ronaldo's penalty record
Ronaldo – dubbed 'Penaldo' for his penchant for scoring penalties – has scored a significant amount of goals from the spot. He most recently scored a hat-trick against Spain in the first group fixture of the 2018 World Cup in Russia under the four-minute mark.
He finished off his trio of goals with a free-kick that sailed past David de Gea in order to earn Portugal a crucial point against rivals Spain.
| Competition | Penalty Goals | Penalties Taken | Accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 11 | 13 | 84.61% |
| La Liga | 61 | 71 | 85.91% |
| Champions League | 14 | 16 | 87.50% |
| International | 7 | 11 | 63.63% |
| Total | 93 | 111 | 83.78% |
What percentage of Ronaldo's goals are penalties?
| Competition | Penalty Goals | Total Goals | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 11 | 84 | 13.09% |
| La Liga | 61 | 311 | 16.18% |
| Champions League | 14 | 105 | 13.33% |
| International | 7 | 84 | 8.33% |
| Total | 93 | 584 | 15.92% |
Messi vs Ronaldo head-to-head
Getty
In total, Ronaldo has scored more penalties than Messi. Of Ronaldo's goals, 15.92 per cent were penalties; while of Messi's career total only 12.97% have come from the spot.
The overrall number of penalties that the two are scored are relatively significant compared to their grand total – both scoring almost 600 goals for both club and country. They are both lethal from the spot and both all-around gifted footballers in all aspects of their game, which explains their duties of penalty-taking.
