On Friday, Inter Miami took a key step towards advancing to the Jap Convention semifinals of Main League Soccer. The group secured a convincing 3–1 victory over Nashville SC at Chase Stadium, with Lionel Messi scoring twice, together with one from a header. It’s an space of the sport by which Cristiano Ronaldo has additionally made his mark all through his profession.
Within the nineteenth minute of the primary half, Messi exchanged passes with Luis Suarez, who waited for Leo to make his run into the field earlier than sending in a exact cross that allowed the Argentine ahead to go house the opener. It was the twenty ninth header purpose of Messi’s skilled profession.
Two of these objectives got here with Argentina, whereas the remaining 27 have been scored on the membership stage — most of them, unsurprisingly, with Barcelona. Over his 17 seasons with the Catalan facet, Messi scored 24 headers. The primary got here in opposition to Actual Zaragoza in 2006, and the final in opposition to Celta in 2021. However for sure, essentially the most iconic was within the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League last in opposition to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United.
Throughout his two years with Paris Saint-Germain, Messi scored 32 objectives — none of them headers. Since becoming a member of Inter Miami, he has now scored three together with his head: one in opposition to Orlando Metropolis in 2024, one in opposition to Atlanta United within the 2024 playoffs, and one this Friday in opposition to Nashville SC, additionally within the Jap Convention playoffs.
Lionel Messi scores a header for Barcelona in the course of the UEFA Champions League last in opposition to Manchester United in 2009.
What number of header objectives has Cristiano Ronaldo scored?
Throughout his 23-year skilled profession, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored extra objectives than another participant in soccer historical past. And headers have performed an enormous half in that file: the Portuguese ahead has netted 152 objectives together with his head, combining his membership and worldwide profession.
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Ronaldo’s first header purpose got here with Sporting CP — the one certainly one of that sort he scored for the Portuguese membership — in opposition to Moreirense in 2002. He then joined Manchester United, the place he performed in two stints between 2003 and 2009, and once more from 2021 to 2022. In England, CR7 scored 23 header objectives.
It was at Actual Madrid, nonetheless, the place the Portuguese star actually excelled in that division, scoring 70 headers, together with two in opposition to Barcelona. With Juventus, he added 16 extra in simply three seasons, and since becoming a member of Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia in 2023, he has already scored 12. The remaining 28 got here with the Portugal nationwide group.
Messi vs. Ronaldo: Header purpose comparability
Given the bodily and stylistic variations between the 2 gamers, it’s logical that Cristiano Ronaldo holds a big edge over Lionel Messi in the case of objectives scored with headers. Whereas the Argentine ahead has 29, CR7 stands at 152. Furthermore, Cristiano has scored six braces (two headers in the identical match) in his profession, whereas Messi has by no means accomplished so.
That benefit turns into even clearer when trying on the proportion of header objectives relative to their complete profession tallies. For Ronaldo, headers symbolize 16.02% of his objectives (152 out of 949), whereas for Messi, they account for simply 3.25% (29 out of 891).
