Comparing Lionel Messi’s stats at the Club World Cup With Cristiano Ronaldo’s

Ben Stewart • 14 Jun 2025

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two best players of their generation, but how do their stats compare at the Club World Cup? We’ve crunched the numbers.

Ronaldo has managed to get his hands on the Club World Cup trophy on four occasions, winning it in 2008, 2014, 2016 and 2017.

During those competitions, CR7 always seemed to produce the goods as he scored seven goals across eight appearances and also provided three assists for his teammates.

He also won the Player of the Tournament award in 2016 and finished as a runner-up in that award on three separate occasions.

Having scored seven goals at the Club World Cup, Ronaldo currently holds the record for the most goals in the competition’s history.

He also holds the record for the most goal contributions in the competition with 10. However, since he won’t be taking part in the tournament this summer, he won’t get the chance to add to his tally.

The 40-year-old was heavily linked with a move to fellow Saudi club Al-Hilal, but the move didn’t materialise in the end and he’ll instead be sticking with Al-Nassr.

That means that Ronaldo won’t get the chance to pull further ahead and Messi will have the opportunity to catch up to his scoring numbers.

“I will not be at the Club World Cup,” Ronaldo said earlier this month.

“Some teams reached out to me. Some made sense and others did not, but you can’t try and do everything. You can’t catch every ball.”

In regard to Messi, he’s won the Club World Cup on three occasions with Barcelona, winning it in 2009, 2011 and 2015.

In five appearances across three tournaments, Messi scored five goals and provided one assist, averaging a goal contribution every 85.4 minutes.

With the new and expanded version of the tournament taking place this summer, Messi will have the chance to add to his tally with Inter Miami.

The MLS side are guaranteed to play at least three group stages matches where they will play Al Ahly, Porto and Palmeiras.

“Well, it’s an interesting competition,” Messi recently told FIFA.

“Having the chance to be part of it is exciting. The expectations I have are different to the ones I had when I played for other teams, but I’m eager and I look forward to competing against the best [teams] and doing well.”

Here’s a full breakdown of how Messi’s stats at the Club World Cup currently compare with Ronaldo’s.