Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are largely known for being two of the best soccer players of all time. Among the talents of both, it’s the fact that they’re clinical from the penalty spot, so when they miss, it’s a rare feat. The Argentinian just did that vs. Austria, so how does he compare to the Portuguese ace?
Messi has missed three penalties in World Cups. The first one was against Iceland in Russia 2018, followed by one against Poland in Qatar 2022, and now Messi missed another penalty against Austria in the 2026 World Cup.
As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he has just missed once, against Iran in Russia 2018. As for now, Ronaldo is the more prolific penalty scorer when compared to Messi in the World Cup stage.
Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Penalty records in World Cups
Lionel Messi has taken a total of 11 penalties in World Cups, including penalty shootouts. He has scored eight of them. Three of those have been precisely in shootouts, where he scored against Netherlands (2014, 2022) and France (2022).
Lionel Messi is the first player to miss a penalty at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. ❌ pic.twitter.com/e0L3vESVqM
— Squawka (@Squawka) June 22, 2026
As for Ronaldo, he has taken a shot from the spot on five occasions in the World Cup. He has scored four of them, including the decisive penalty against England in 2006’s quarterfinals.
Messi vs Ronaldo penalty records in their careers
Lionel Messi has scored 114 out 146 penalties taken in his career (excluding shootouts). That is a 78% efficiency from the spot. How does that compare to his sports rival Ronaldo?
Well, CR7 has taken 219 penalties in his career and has scored 183, excluding shootouts. Hence, Ronaldo has an 83.5% of efficiency when taking penalties in his illustrious career.
Messi broke an unwanted World Cup record
Per statistician MisterChip, Messi has now become the player with the most missed penalties in World Cup history with three, surpassing Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan who missed twice (2006, 2010).
The previously two missed penalties from Messi were saved by the goalkeeper, this was the first to miss the target altogether.
