Cristiano Ronaldo suffers worst losing streak for the second time in career: Has Lionel Messi ever lost three consecutive games so far?

The early days of a new year are usually a reset, a moment for even the greatest players to steady themselves before momentum builds. Yet for Cristiano Ronaldo, the opening chapter of 2026 has unfolded in a way few could have predicted. Results have stacked up in the wrong direction, pressure has intensified, and an uncomfortable question has begun to circulate—one that inevitably invites comparison with Lionel Messi and the standards both icons set across two decades of dominance.

At the heart of this moment sits the club Ronaldo represents, a side once positioned as a genuine title contender, now forced into damage control. A derby defeat against Al-Hilal was not just another setback on the fixture list. It became a symbolic turning point, one that exposed fragility, history, and a rare vulnerability in the career of a player defined by resilience.

Riyadh rarely offers gentle tests, and the meeting between Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal at Kingdom Arena carried enormous weight. The club entered the match under pressure, already chasing consistency after a series of dropped points. The opponent, by contrast, arrived unbeaten, confident, and in full control of the title race.

For much of the first half, the script appeared to favor Ronaldo’s side. The club pressed aggressively, moved the ball with purpose, and looked sharper than in recent outings. Ronaldo, once again, was central. In the 42nd minute, a flowing move ended with the Portuguese forward applying a clinical finish, handing his team a deserved lead and briefly restoring belief. At halftime, the advantage felt fragile but real. In derbies of this intensity, however, control is often an illusion.

The second half completely flipped the contest as the hosts pressed aggressively, forced errors, and drew level through Salem Al-Dawsari’s calmly taken penalty. Momentum swung decisively when goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi’s yellow card was upgraded to a red after a VAR review, leaving his side with ten men and little resistance. Mohamed Kanno’s header completed the comeback before a late second penalty sealed a 3-1 defeat, stretching the gap at the top of the table to seven points and leaving the challengers facing an uphill task.

Had Ronaldo ever lost three in a row before?

On paper, it was just another loss. In reality, it completed a sequence that Ronaldo had almost never known. Al-Nassr had now lost three consecutive league matches, transforming a title chase into a precarious campaign. Thus, for the first time in his entire professional career, Cristiano Ronaldo began a calendar year with three straight defeats. 

Outside of calendar-year starts, Ronaldo has experienced isolated three-game losing streaks. One of the most notable came during his second spell at Manchester United in 2022, when defeats to Brighton, Brentford, and Liverpool exposed deep structural problems at the club.

What makes 2026 different is timing. Never before had those three defeats arrived back-to-back at the very start of a new year, a detail that turns a normal slump into a historical footnote.

And what about Messi?

This is where the comparison sharpens. Lionel Messi’s career, often defined by collective dominance, has not been immune to short collapses. Yes—Messi has also lost three consecutive games during his career, though, like Ronaldo, it has been uncommon and context-driven.

At Barcelona, rare losing streaks surfaced during transitional periods. In 2014-15, three straight domestic defeats preceded a tactical reset that ultimately produced a historic treble. In later years, European exits and domestic slips occasionally overlapped to create brief three-game downturns.

The pattern repeated at Paris Saint-Germain, where squad imbalance and fixture congestion led to short losing runs across competitions. Most recently, the 38-year-old superstar experienced three consecutive defeats across club and international matches with Inter Miami and Argentina in November 2024—a reminder that even the most decorated careers contain moments of instability.