Ronaldo welcomes milestone: he scores goals and surpasses Messi, just one step away from the historical record

In the early morning of September 7, 2025, in the first round of the World Cup Group F in the European World Cup, Portugal defeated Armenia 5-0 away. The 39-year-old captain Cristiano Ronaldo (Cristiano Ronaldo) was in a very strong state and scored two goals alone, which not only helped the team get a good start, but also achieved a historic surpassing his old opponent Messi in one key data. In the 21st minute of the game, Pedro Neto made a precise cross from the right. Ronaldo got rid of defense with his outstanding unball running and clever forward to complete the close-range goal, expanding the team's score. In the first minute of the second half, he once again showed his superstar style. He shot a long shot from outside the penalty area with a powerful and powerful long shot, rewritten the score to 4-0, completely locking in the victory.

With this bracelet, Ronaldo scored 38 goals in the World Cup qualifiers, officially surpassing Messi (37 goals) and becoming the player with the most goals in the World Cup qualifiers in men's football history. This milestone achievement once again consolidated his legendary position in international football.

At present, Ronaldo is only one goal away from the 39-goal record held by Guatemala legendary striker Carlos Ruiz. In the 58th minute of this game, coach Roberto Martinez replaced Ronaldo in advance for the sake of protecting the veteran so that he could prepare for the key away game against Hungary in two days later.

Despite missing the spot chance to tie the record, Ronaldo still has plenty of time to complete the feat. Portugal has five more games in the World Cup next, and he has a chance to break the long-standing record.

It is worth mentioning that Ronaldo has a lot of "destiny" with Hungary - he has scored the team's goal six times, second only to his goals against Armenia (7 goals), Sweden (7 goals), Lithuania (7 goals) and Luxembourg (11 goals). Therefore, the match against Hungary on September 9 may be an excellent time for Ronaldo to tie or even break the record.

In contrast, Messi has been confirmed to not participate in this round of the South American World Cup qualifiers. Argentina coach Scaloni chose to let him take a rest. The 2026 US, Canada and Mexico World Cup is very likely to become the stage for the last World Cup in their careers of these two football "peerless twins".