Lionel Messi gained spotlight for a surprising reason during Inter Miami’s match against Charlotte FC as he missed a penalty using a Panenka-style attempt. This miss marked the 32nd penalty failure in Messi’s professional career, reigniting discussions about how he compares to Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of penalty performance.
Messi vs Ronaldo: A Comparison of Penalty Records
For nearly 20 years, Messi and Ronaldo have been at the pinnacle of world football, leading their clubs and countries while serving as their teams’ primary penalty takers.
Cristiano Ronaldo started to share penalty responsibilities with Wayne Rooney at Manchester United, but once he transferred to Real Madrid, he emerged as the sole spot-kick expert for club and country. In his time at Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Al Nassr, and for the Portugal national team, Ronaldo has had 210 penalties, scored 177 and missed 33, which put his success rate at 84.29%.
In the meantime, Lionel Messi took over Barcelona’s penalty duties from Ronaldinho when the Brazilian left in 2008 during coach Pep Guardiola’s tenure. Messi was assigned the legendary No. 10 number and became the club’s go-to penalty taker later also for Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami, and Argentina. Throughout his career, Messi has taken 145 penalties, scoring 113 and missing 32, with a 77.93% success rate marginally short of Ronaldo’s.
Also Read: Cristiano Ronaldo coming to India? Al Nassr vs FC Goa clash likely to happen in October
End of an Impressive Streak
Messi’s miss against Charlotte FC also ended an impressive run. The Argentine forward had gone nearly three years without missing a penalty during regular gameplay, excluding shootouts. His last in-game miss came at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, when Wojciech Szczesny saved his attempt in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Poland. Since then, Messi had successfully converted all six of his in-game penalties for both Argentina and Inter Miami.
