Lionel Messi outshines Cristiano Ronaldo to become first player ever to reach 1,350 career goal contributions

Lionel Messi may have stepped away from international duty with Argentina, but that reality hardly excuses him from continuing to write soccer history with Inter Miami. With his latest assist, the forward outpaced long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo to become the first player in modern professional soccer history to reach 1,350 career goal contributions.

Inter Miami traveled to Soldier Field to face the Chicago Fire in MLS action, seeking to close the gap on Nashville SC in the race for the 2026 Supporters’ Shield. However, Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for the home side with an acrobatic finish in the 10th minute.

Despite testing the defense on multiple long-range efforts, Messi was repeatedly denied by Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady, who turned aside four shots from the Argentine playmaker throughout the night. However, in the 48th minute, Messi whipped in a corner kick from the left flank, connecting with Casemiro, who rose above his marker to head home the equalizer.

Despite the 1-1 draw, Messi’s latest setup officially pushed his career total to 1,350 combined goals and assists. The delivery to Casemiro represented his 423rd career assist, extending his record as the game’s all-time setup leader, alongside 927 official goals across 1,173 appearances for an average of 1.15 goal contributions per match.

Lionel Messi’s breakdown of goal contributions

How far is Cristiano Ronaldo?

Cristiano Ronaldo made headlines earlier in the week after scoring his 979th career goal in Al Nassr’s 2-1 victory over Abha. While the Portuguese star remains closer to reaching the 1,000-goal mark, Messi maintains a clear edge in overall goal contributions.

Across stints with Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Al Nassr, and the Portugal national team, Ronaldo has accumulated 979 goals and 261 assists in 1,335 career appearances. That brings his career tally to 1,240 goal contributions at a rate of 0.93 per match, leaving him 110 behind Messi.

During the 2025-26 campaign, Ronaldo captured the Saudi Pro League title with Al Nassr while producing 30 goals and four assists, adding three World Cup goals for Portugal to reach 37 goal contributions. At age 41, and having indicated that the 2026-27 season could mark his final professional campaign, the Portuguese legend faces an insurmountable gap to catch Messi’s total.