On Friday, Inter Miami took a key step toward advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals of Major League Soccer. The team secured a convincing 3–1 victory over Nashville SC at Chase Stadium, with Lionel Messi scoring twice, including one from a header. It’s an area of the game in which Cristiano Ronaldo has also made his mark throughout his career.
In the 19th minute of the first half, Messi exchanged passes with Luis Suarez, who waited for Leo to make his run into the box before sending in a precise cross that allowed the Argentine forward to head home the opener. It was the 29th header goal of Messi’s professional career.
Two of those goals came with Argentina, while the remaining 27 were scored at the club level — most of them, unsurprisingly, with Barcelona. Over his 17 seasons with the Catalan side, Messi scored 24 headers. The first came against Real Zaragoza in 2006, and the last against Celta in 2021. But without a doubt, the most iconic was in the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League final against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United.
During his two years with Paris Saint-Germain, Messi scored 32 goals — none of them headers. Since joining Inter Miami, he has now scored three with his head: one against Orlando City in 2024, one against Atlanta United in the 2024 playoffs, and one this Friday against Nashville SC, also in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Lionel Messi scores a header for Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United in 2009.
How many header goals has Cristiano Ronaldo scored?
Across his 23-year professional career, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals than any other player in soccer history. And headers have played a huge part in that record: the Portuguese forward has netted 152 goals with his head, combining his club and international career.
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Ronaldo’s first header goal came with Sporting CP — the only one of that type he scored for the Portuguese club — against Moreirense in 2002. He then joined Manchester United, where he played in two stints between 2003 and 2009, and again from 2021 to 2022. In England, CR7 scored 23 header goals.
It was at Real Madrid, however, where the Portuguese star truly excelled in that department, scoring 70 headers, including two against Barcelona. With Juventus, he added 16 more in just three seasons, and since joining Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia in 2023, he has already scored 12. The remaining 28 came with the Portugal national team.
Messi vs. Ronaldo: Header goal comparison
Given the physical and stylistic differences between the two players, it’s logical that Cristiano Ronaldo holds a significant edge over Lionel Messi when it comes to goals scored with headers. While the Argentine forward has 29, CR7 stands at 152. Moreover, Cristiano has scored six braces (two headers in the same match) in his career, while Messi has never done so.
That advantage becomes even clearer when looking at the proportion of header goals relative to their total career tallies. For Ronaldo, headers represent 16.02% of his goals (152 out of 949), while for Messi, they account for just 3.25% (29 out of 891).
