Lionel Messi bypasses Cristiano Ronaldo in number of non-penalty goals scored

Lionel Messi has bypassed Cristiano Ronaldo in the rankings for the total number of goals scored without a penalty.

The 35-year-old superstar scored for Paris Saint-Germain during their 1-0 victory over Lyon on Sunday night, September 18. As a result, Messi has now scored 672 non-penalty goals during his professional career. While Ronaldo has scored 671. 

Messi scored PSG’s only goal in their Ligue 1 clash with Lyon. He found the back of the net in the fifth minute of the game to see them win 1-0, taking his non-penalty goal tally to 672, trumping Manchester United forward Ronaldo by one despite playing 150 fewer games than the Portugal international. 

Ronaldo still holds the bragging right for more appearances when it comes to international football.  The United forward has made 189 appearances for Portugal and has featured in four World Cups, five European Championships, one Nations League Finals and one Confederations Cup.

Meanwhile, Messi has made 162 appearances for Argentina – playing at four World Cups and six Copa America’s. However, he has only ever picked up one international trophy. 

Ronaldo has also scored more goals in total. He has found the back of the net 699 times in 941 games in all competitions for four different clubs. 

Ronaldo has also scored more than 50 goals a season for six consecutive seasons for Real Madrid between 2010-11 and 2015-16.

For Messi, he has scored 688 goals in 822 competitive games across all competitions for two clubs – Barcelona and PSG. 

Additionally, Messi has scored more than 30 goals a season for 13 consecutive seasons for Barcelona between 2008-09 and 2020-21.