Cristiano Ronaldo returned to participate with his country, and appeared in the Portugal squad against Liechtenstein in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, to shine, score two goals, and lead his team to a landslide victory, 4-0.
Lionel Messi, who won the World Cup, continued his brilliance with the Argentine national team, scoring a wonderful goal and leading him to a friendly 2-0 win over Panama.
Chasing numbers
• Ronaldo strengthened his position at the top of the national team scorers’ ranking, raising his tally to 120 goals in 197 games, 11 goals ahead of retired Iranian Ali Daei.
• Lionel Messi raised his score with international goals with Argentina to 99 goals, scored in 173 matches.
• Messi’s goal in Panama was the 800th goal in his club and national team career.
• With his 197th international appearance, Cristiano Ronaldo was the only dean of world players and became the most player in history to participate in international matches, surpassing Kuwaiti Bader Al-Mutawa.
The competition continues
• After many rumors after the last World Cup about Messi and Ronaldo’s international retirement, the duo appeared with new ambition in the first international stop after the World Cup, revealing their desire to continue and play the major tournament again.
• Ronaldo is preparing to appear with the Portugal national team next year in the Euro 2024 tournament, to renew his ambition to win a major tournament before retiring.
• Not only did Messi win the World Cup and the Copa America, he also seeks to win the Continental Cup in South America next year.
• In the 2026 World Cup, Messi will be 39 years old and Ronaldo 41 years old, which increases the possibility of their absence from the competition, but they may have another opinion if the state of brilliance and registration continues at the international level in the next few years.
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