Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, and Brazil’s Neymar are the three most popular footballers in the world right now. They have a massive fan base all around the world because of their footballing talent. Interestingly, none of them have much international success for their respective countries, which is very surprising.However, the success they have achieved internationally is no less important. They all have the capacity to continue playing professional football for a few more years, giving them the chance to better their international records. In this article, we looked at who has gained most international achievements among Messi, Ronaldo, and Neymar?
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Lionel Messi's International Record for Argentina
Lionel Messi was born in 1987 and made his international debut for Argentina against Hungary at the age of 18 in 2005. Since then, he has appeared in the most international matches (149) and scored the most goals (76) for Argentina.
Lionel Messi has played in five Copa America tournaments and four FIFA World Cup events. Argentina has reached three Copa America finals (2007, 2015, and 2016) and one FIFA World Cup final (2014), but Messi has yet to win a major trophy with his country.Lionel Messi is now competing in his sixth Copa America championship in Brazil, and it is expected that he will finally win a major tournament with the Argentina national team.
Despite the fact that he has yet to win a big title with Argentina's senior team, he has some significant success with Argentina's junior teams. In 2005, he won the FIFA U20 World Cup, and in 2008, he earned the Summer Olympic Gold Medal.
Lionel Messi’s international stats:
Matches: 149* | Goals: 76 | Assists: 55
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Cristiano Ronaldo’s International Record for Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo was born in 1985 and made his international debut for Portugal against Kazakhstan at the age of 18 in 2003. Along with Iran's Ali Daei, he has scored the most international goals (109) and has played the most international matches (179) for Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo has played in five UEFA European Championships and four FIFA World Cups. During this time, Portugal has been in two European Championship finals, the first in 2004 and the second in 2016, winning the latter by defeating France in the decider. Portugal have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup final; their best finish was fourth place in the 2006 edition.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal national team also won the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League in 2019.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s international stats:
Matches: 179* | Goals: 109 | Assists: 41
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Neymar’s International Record for Brazil
Born in 1992, Neymar made his international debut for Brazil against the United States at the age of 18 in 2010. Since then, he has appeared in 109 international matches for Brazil, scoring 68 goals. He only needs 10 more goals to surpass Pele as the all-time leading scorer for Brazil.
Neymar has competed in five Copa America tournaments, winning the most recent one in 2019. He has also competed in two FIFA World Cups (2014 and 2018), with his best performance with the Brazilian national team being a fourth-place finish in the 2014 edition. He also won the Summer Olympic Gold Medal in 2016.
Neymar’s international stats:
Matches: 109* | Goals: 68| Assists: 46
Read:Brazil beats Chile at Copa America despite 2nd-half red card
Bottom Line
After evaluating the career achievements of Messi, Ronaldo, and Neymar in the international sphere, it is clear that Cristiano has a better record than the other two. Cristiano Ronaldo has won a UEFA EURO Championship and the Nations League in 2019, while Neymar has won the Copa America in 2019. On the other hand, Lionel Messi has yet to win a major tournament with the national team.