Lionel Messi overtakes GOAT rival Cristiano Ronaldo to secure enormous goal-scoring milestone

The ever-extraordinary Lionel Messi continues to mount records even at the age of 38. Playing for Inter Miami, the Argentine notched a brace on Saturday against NY Red Bulls and triggered a 5-1 thrashing at the Red Bull Arena. With the pair of goals, the 8-time Balon d’Or winner has taken his tally to 874 goals, reaching the pinnacle of yet another goal-scoring chart in the process.

Messi pips Ronaldo

Messi has now become the player with the most non-penalty goals in the history of the sport. Out of the 874 goals he has scored in his career, only 110 have come from the spot, and the remaining 764 have been non-penalty goals. He overtook familiar foe Cristiano Ronaldo to take over the top position. Ronaldo has amassed 763 non-penalty goals in his career.

The practice of collecting milestones did not end there for Messi. He provided an assist in the match as well, which as per record, was his 386th career assist. He is just 14 away from reaching the monumental mark of 400. What differentiates Messi from the crowd is the fact that no other active player has even 300 assists to his name. He is just behind Ferenc Puskás in the all-time list, who accumulated 404 assists in his illustrious career.

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Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Rivalry for the ages

Decades have passed, yet the evergreen rivalry between two of the biggest GOATs of the game has not diminished. In fact, it still keeps on giving. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are premier mentions in all the goalscoring catalogues. Though they are talismen of different leagues, they are still seemingly competing with each other, thereby pushing the standards of the game to immeasurable heights. Playing for Al-Nassr, Ronaldo has been on a goalscoring spree ever since he joined the club following the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Messi, on the other hand, is single-handedly gliding Inter Miami’s ship in the MLS. It is hard to guess whether Ronaldo and Messi will ever come face to face again on the football field, but after a rivalry that has defied time, the world of football has certainly witnessed something that may never take place ever again.