Cristiano Ronaldo’s match-winning goals ratio is often higher than that of his contemporary superstar Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo is the first player in history to reach 900 goals in official club competitions and FIFA points matches for the national team. Of these, 220 were decisive goals that brought victory to the home team in 1,236 matches, a rate of 17.8%. Compared to the superstar of the same era, Lionel Messi, this rate is 16.5%, (176 decisive goals in 1,069 matches).
A winning goal is scored when the last goal of the match is scored when the score is level. Ronaldo has also scored 355 goals to put his team ahead, in 334 of 1,236 games, or 27%. Messi has scored 292 such goals, in 279 of 1,069 games, or 26.1%.
Another statistic that shows Ronaldo ‘s goals have a significant impact on the match is the number of points won by the home team.
Assuming that every match counts, excluding penalty shootouts, Ronaldo would have earned 382 points out of the 2,108 his team has won, a ratio of 18.1%. This is again better than Messi, with 17.3% (he won 312 points from the team’s 1,803 points).
The above metric is calculated based on the team’s results in the event that Ronaldo or Messi does not score. For example, if Al Nassr wins 3-1 and Ronaldo scores a goal, he gets no points. If Al Nassr wins 2-1 and Ronaldo scores a goal, he gets two points. And if Al Nassr wins 2-1 and Ronaldo scores a double, he gets three points.
Ronaldo celebrates his 900th goal, when Portugal meets Croatia in the first round of Group 1 of UEFA Nations League A at Da Luz Stadium, Lisbon, on the evening of September 5, 2024. Photo: EFE
Other factors that Ronaldo can confidently outperform Messi include the ability to score goals with his head or weaker foot. The 1.87m striker has scored 151 headed goals in his career, a rate of 16.8%, while the 1.70m superstar has only scored 27 goals with his head, a rate of 3.2%.
Ronaldo has also scored 173 goals with his left foot, his weaker foot, a rate of 19.2%, while Messi has scored 105 with his right foot, accounting for 12.5% of his total. In addition, Ronaldo scored an elbow goal in Real Madrid’s match against Athletic Bilbao in 2014.
Ronaldo’s worst opponents are probably Benfica, with him failing to score in five meetings with them, followed by Lille with four matches. At international level, the Portuguese captain has also failed to score in three matches against England.
Ronaldo holds the all-time scoring records in the Champions League, Euros, World Cup qualifiers and Club World Cup. He also has scored the most penalties in history, with 164, although his 84.5% success rate is not the highest.
At 39, Ronaldo understands that he only has a few years left to play at the top level. On his personal YouTube channel, the Al Nassr captain said that his final big goal is to reach the 1,000-goal mark . Perhaps only then will he decide to hang up his boots. “That would be the greatest milestone I can achieve in football,” Ronaldo said.
