Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have contested close to a hundred finals between them in their glittering careers – but which era-defining superstar has the better record on the showpiece occasions?
We’ve delved into the stats to compare Messi and Ronaldo’s records in finals.
Remarkably, Messi has more goal contributions (goals plus assists) in finals than his total number of appearances.
The Argentinian has notched 35 goals and 15 assists in 49 finals contested for club and country.
In terms of top-level football, that’s an all-time record – for final appearances, for goals, and for assists.
No player in the history of Europe’s five major leagues has scored more goals than Messi, but he’d also save some of his best and most iconic performances for cup finals.
Since his first appearance in a final way back in 2006 – Barcelona’s 4-0 aggregate Supercopa victory over city rivals Espanyol – he’s gone on to play in 49 finals for Barcelona, PSG, Inter Miami and Argentina.
He notched his first goal and assist in a final in Barca’s 4-1 thrashing of Athletic Bilbao in the 2009 Copa del Rey final. A fortnight later he capped off a historic treble, scoring a rare header to make it 2-0 in Barcelona’s Champions League final victory over Ronaldo’s Manchester United.
From there there was no stopping him, with Messi regularly scoring or assisting in Barcelona’s imperial era of dominance – including a hat-trick against Sevilla in the 2010 Supercopa and another goal in Barcelona’s 2011 Champions League final victory.
But there was also regular heartbreak in finals on the international stage. Messi’s Argentina suffered defeat in the 2014 World Cup final, as well as the 2007, 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals.
But Argentina finally tasted glory in the 2021, beating Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America final. Messi neither scored or assisted that night, but he did bag two goals in the big one – Argentina’s World Cup final victory over France – the following year.
Ronaldo’s record in finals isn’t quite as impressive as Messi’s – but it’s still a record that betters pretty much any other player in football history.
The 40-year-old has scored 23 goals and notched two assists in 38 final appearances for Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Al Nassr and Portugal.
He was just 19 years of age when he started his first final – the 2004 FA Cup against Millwall – and marked the occasion with a goal.
Later that summer he suffered heartbreak in the final of Euro 2004 as Portugal were defeated 1-0 by shock winners Greece on home soil.
But he’d memorably win the European Championships 12 years later, captaining Portugal at Euro 2016 – and watching on anxiously from the sidelines after a rare injury forced his early withdrawal.
Ronaldo also scored in the 2006 League Cup final victory over Wigan Athletic, a resounding 4-0 win, and United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final.
He missed his spot-kick in the penalty shootout, but fortunately for him John Terry slipped and he ended up with his hands on the trophy.
He went on to win another four Champions Leagues after his world-record transfer to Real Madrid. He scored and assisted in the 2014 final against Atletico and bagged a brace in the 2017 final against Juventus, but drew blanks in their victories of 2016 and 2018.
More recently, Ronaldo has featured in three cup finals for Al Nassr. He scored both goals in their 2023 Arab Champions Cup 2-1 win over Al Hilal, the only trophy he’s won out there.
He failed to score or assist as Al Hilal got their revenge in the 2024 Saudi King Cup – decided on penalties after a 1-1 draw – and only mustered a consolation in Al Nassr’s 4-1 defeat to Al Hilal in the Saudi Super Cup in August.
Here’s how Messi and Ronaldo’s records in finals stack up against one another.
Note: We have included all finals here, not just ‘major’ finals. Super Cups are included.
Lionel Messi in finals
Games: 49 ⭐
Starts: 47 ⭐
Sub appearances: 2
Goals: 35 ⭐
Assists: 15 ⭐
Penalties scored: 4/5 ⭐ (80%)
Hat-tricks: 1
Free-kicks: 3 ⭐
Minutes per goal: 129 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 146 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 90 ⭐
Cristiano Ronaldo in finals
Games: 38
Starts: 36
Sub appearances: 2
Goals: 23
Assists: 2
Penalties scored: 2/2 (100% ⭐ )
Hat-tricks: 1
Free-kicks: 1
Minutes per goal: 149
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 163
Minutes per goal or assist: 129
