Categories: Sports

Lionel Messi And Cristiano Ronaldo Need These Many Goals To Become The Top Scorer, Who Will Do It First?

Cristiano Ronaldo has now outstripped Lionel Messi to become the all time leading scorer in World Cup qualifiers with 39 goals, one short of the record of Carlos Ruiz. His very important penalty on Hungary was the key to this milestone in the Portuguese 3-2 victory.

Published by Namrata Boruah
Published: September 10, 2025 13:45:07 IST

Cristiano Ronaldo has made an amazing history in the history of world cup qualification surpassing Lionel Messi to be the highest top scorer in the world cup qualification matches. On September 9, 2025, Ronaldo surpassed Messi to become the leading goalscorer in the history of World Cup qualifiers with a goal against Hungary, his 39th goal in the programme. This has made him only a goal short of the all time record of Carlos Ruiz of Guatemala who scored 39 goals on World Cup qualifiers.

Cristiano Ronaldo Goal Records in World Cup qualifier 2026

The star of the 3-2 win over Hungary performance of Ronaldo was critical. Having gone behind 2-1, Ronaldo responded with a penalty, his 39th goal in world cup qualification. Later, Joao Cancelo got the winning goal that made it possible to win the match in favor of Portugal. This is another milestone to add to the long international history of Ronaldo who also qualifies as the leading goalscorer in the international football of the men with 140 goals in 223 games.

Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi Goal

As Ronaldo approaches the all time total of goals of qualifying in the World Cup, one will tend to compare the results to those of Lionel Messi. Although Messi has proved to be a very successful athlete, such as the 2022 World Cup winning Argentina, the ability of Ronaldo to stay longer and score goals during qualifiers demonstrates his great career. In the future, the quest by Ronaldo to be the world cup qualifying goals record holder provides an interesting storyline to the coming games. His eyes are on winning over Carlos Ruiz and therefore with the remaining qualifiers, fans and analysts will be eagerly observing his performances.