Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both in the final stages of their careers. Ronaldo is 38 years old, and Messi is also 36. But their age does not seem to be a big problem for the Portugal and Argentina Teams. The proof is that both will still participate in the upcoming matches during FIFA Days in November.
Messi and his debt to Brazil
As expected of fans, Lionel Messi continues to take on the responsibility of leading the Argentina Team to prepare for two 2026 World Cup qualifying matches in South America. The goal of the defending world champion is to protect the current top spot in the table. However, that task is not simple when the upcoming opponents are all great rivals of La Albiceleste.
Messi and his teammates will play the first of two World Cup qualifying matches on November 17 against Uruguay and the second on November 21 against Brazil.
The Argentine team is the only team in the South American region that has won all four rounds and is firmly at the top of the group. They have 5 points more than Uruguay and Brazil who are ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively on the rankings.
Messi is of course the most notable name in the Argentina Team. In addition to the superstar playing for Inter Miami, coach Lionel Scaloni’s squad also has other notable names such as Angel Di Maria, Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, Enzo Fernandez…
Messi’s MLS season with Inter Miami has ended and the star born in 1987 will be resting until February 2024. Thus, Messi will devote himself wholeheartedly to the national team. In particular, fans around the world will be waiting for Messi’s performance in the match against the Brazilian Team. The Selecao is always a tough opponent for Team Argentina and Messi. Throughout his career, Messi has faced Brazil 13 times with a record of 6 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw. La Pulga has scored 5 goals against the green and yellow team, but none of those goals have been scored in official matches.
The match against the Uruguay Team also had an interesting detail, which was the reunion of two close friends Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. From next season, Luis Suarez will move to Inter Miami to work alongside Messi. The two have built a relationship since they played for Barcelona together and are considered the closest friends in the football world.
Ronaldo extends records
Compared to Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo’s task in the EURO 2024 qualifiers is much easier. His Portuguese team only had to meet two weak teams, Team Iceland and Team Liechtenstein. This will be a very good opportunity for Ronaldo to continue extending his records. He currently holds two records: the male player with the most national team caps (203 matches) and the one with the most goals (127 goals).
The Portuguese team is currently in a comfortable mood. The team under the leadership of coach Roberto Martinez has won all 8 past matches of the EURO 2024 qualifiers and will soon have tickets to Germany next summer. The remaining matches therefore only have the meaning of training and testing new personnel plans.
In this call-up, the Portuguese Team will be without Pepe, Rafael Leao and Nelson Semedo due to injury, while Diogo Dalot will withdraw because his wife is about to give birth. Roberto Martinez has called up Raphael Guerreiro to replace Nelson Semedo and Joao Mario to replace Dalot. The Spanish strategist did not name replacements for Rafael Leao and Pepe.
Even though there are no more goals to strive for, the Portuguese Team still has a very strong force in this convocation. Standing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo are top stars such as Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Diogo Jota, Joao Felix… In addition, Roberto Martinez also has a group of very high-quality young players with names like Antonio Silva, Goncalo Inacio or Joao Neves…
Of course, the focus of attention will still be Cristiano Ronaldo. The star born in 1985 is showing a very impressive scoring form at Al Nassr. After 23 appearances in all competitions since the beginning of the season, CR7 has scored 22 goals.
