Al Nassr had a tough outing in the AFC Champions League 2 final as they lost to Gamba Osaka, which caused an unhappy reaction from Cristiano Ronaldo. This means the Portuguese’s record in finals added one more to the loss column, but how does that compare to his soccer rival, Lionel Messi?
With this result, Cristiano Ronaldo‘s record in finals is 20 wins, 11 draws, and 10 losses in 41 finals throughout his career. Overall, Ronaldo ended up being a runner-up in 15 finals. Meanwhile, Messi finished as runner-up 13 times in 51 finals played.
Including his finals with Portugal, Ronaldo has scored 25 goals and provided two assists. Messi has 35 goals and 17 assists in all the finals he’s played for clubs or country. In his most recent final against Gamba Osaka, however, Ronaldo finished scoreless.
What’s Ronaldo head-to-head record vs. Messi in finals?
Messi and Ronaldo have played in seven finals against each other. Five of them have been Spanish Super Cups, then you have a Copa del Rey final, and a Champions League final.
The record between arguably the two best players in history in finals leaves us with no winner. Messi has won three, Ronaldo three, and there is a draw as well. That draw was on a first game of a two-leg final in the 2011 Spanish Super Cup, which Barcelona ended up winning. Hence, when these two players face off in a final, it’s a coin flip to see who wins.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s record in finals with Al Nassr
This was the fifth final that Cristiano Ronaldo has played since arriving at Al Nassr. But, how many finals has Cristiano Ronaldo lost already with Al Nassr? His record is of one win, two draws, and two losses. His lone win was in his first final, a 2-1 victory where he scored both goals to win the Arab Club Champions Cup. However, this title is not recognized as official by FIFA or the AFC.
He then tied against Al Hilal in the Saudi King Cup final only to lose in penalties. After that, he scored in the Saudi Super Cup final in 2024, but Al Nassr lost 1-4 against Al Hilal once again. In 2025, Al Nassr reached the Saudi Super Cup final, only to tie 2-2, with Ronaldo scoring once, and then lose again in the penalty shootout.
Comparing Ronaldo and Messi’s international finals record
Ronaldo played in four finals with Portugal so far in his career. He has two wins, one draw (won in PKs), and one loss. After a hearbreaking loss in 2004 at home to Greece in the Euros, fortunes changed for the Portuguese.
CR7 had revenge in 2016 against France in the Euros. Then, Ronaldo led Portugal to win the 2019 UEFA Nations League against Netherlands. In 2025, he scored as Portugal and Spain tied 2-2, only for Portugal to win the shootout to get another UEFA Nations League title.
As for Messi, he’s played in eight finals with Argentina. He lost the first two (vs. Brazil in the 2007 Copa America and Germany in the 2014 World Cup). Then he drew twice vs Chile in the 2015 and 2016 Copa America, where he lost both in the PK shootouts, missing his penalty in the 2016 final.
Redemption came in his next four finals. Messi won the 2021 Copa America vs Brazil, the 2022 Finalissima vs. Italy (he had 2 assists), the 2022 World Cup (draw, but won in PKs, he scored twice + PK), and the 2024 Copa America against Colombia.
