Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Who has the better record with their weaker foot?

Nathan Egerton • 22 Feb 2026

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the greatest footballers of all time, and they’ve been competing with each other for over 20 years.

Between them, they have scored over 1500 career goals, won nine Champions League trophies and received 13 Ballon d’Or awards.

But they’ve predominantly played on opposite wings in their careers, with Ronaldo cutting inside onto his favoured right foot and Messi cutting inside onto his favoured left foot.

If you had to pick body parts to create your ultimate footballer, most people would pick Ronaldo’s right foot and Messi’s left foot.

“His left foot is pretty good – better than mine,” Ronaldo himself said when asked about Messi before the 2015 Ballon d’Or ceremony. “I’d like to have his left foot.”

Messi isn’t swapping his iconic left foot with anybody, although he would probably admit that Ronaldo’s right foot is better than his.

But it seems strange to suggest that either player has a weak foot, as some of the goals they’ve produced with their non-dominant foot are better than what many players have managed to score with their strongest foot.

The Argentina international once got a weak-foot hat-trick, scoring three right-footed goals in Barcelona’s 4-0 win against APOEL Nicosia in 2014.

He even won the Champions League Goal of the Season award in 2014-15 after chipping Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer with his weaker right foot.

Ronaldo has a brilliant catalogue of left-footed goals, including iconic Champions League strikes against Galatasaray, Ajax and Schalke.

In fact, only eight players have scored more left-footed club goals than the Portugal international in the 21st century.

“Who’s the best goal scorer in history? It’s about numbers. Full stop,” Ronaldo said on a Spanish television show in 2025.

“Who’s the player in history who’s scored most goals with their head, their left foot, penalties, free kicks? I was looking the other day, and not being left-footed, I’m in the top 10 goal scorers with their left foot in history. And with my head, and with my right foot, and penalties. All of them.

“I’m talking about numbers. I think I’m the most complete player to have existed. In my opinion, I think it’s me. I do everything well in football: with my head, free kicks, left foot. I’m fast, I’m strong.

“One thing is taste – if you like Messi, Pelé, Maradona, I understand that and I respect that – but saying Ronaldo isn’t complete… I’m the most complete. I haven’t seen anybody better than me, and I say it from the heart.”

We’ve taken a closer look at their stats to see how many goals they’ve each scored with their weaker foot, including both club and international records.