Desk Report,
Ronaldo needs one goal to surpass Messi’s record
Portugal’s match against Armenia in the World Cup qualifiers. How many people should be interested in this? But when Ronaldo is playing for Portugal, you have to keep an eye on him. Even before this match, Ronaldo was standing in front of a record. Three goals were needed to break the record. In addition, Ronaldo also had the opportunity to surpass his arch-rival Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo needs one goal to surpass Messi’s record
Ronaldo would have surpassed Messi with one goal. He would have scored more goals than Messi in the World Cup qualifiers. With such a calculation, Ronaldo, who came out to play against Armenia, scored a goal in the 21st minute of the match. After Joao Felix’s goal in the 10th minute, Ronaldo’s goal that beat Messi gave Portugal a 2-0 lead within 21 minutes. Ronaldo then scored another goal, Felix scored another goal. Added to this was Joao Cancelo’s goal. In total, Portugal won their first match in the 2026 World Cup European qualifiers by 5-0.
However, more talk about this match than Portugal’s victory is about Ronaldo surpassing Messi. Both had equal 36 goals in World Cup qualifiers so far. Today, Ronaldo has surpassed Messi with 38 goals. It took Messi 72 matches to reach 36 goals, while Ronaldo scored 38 goals in 48 matches.
Despite surpassing Messi, Ronaldo is still one goal away from the record for the most goals in World Cup qualifiers. That record is held by Carlos Ruiz, who played for Guatemala from 1998 to 2006 and scored 39 goals in 47 World Cup qualifiers.
Ruiz’s record may not last long. Because Ronaldo will play a few more matches in the qualifiers. He needs one goal to catch Ruiz, two to surpass him.
England won the night Ronaldo surpassed Messi. They defeated Andorra 2-0 on their own field. However, unlike Portugal, this is not their first match in the European qualifiers, but their fourth. Thomas Tuchel’s team is at the top of Group K with 12 points from 4 matches.
