Do you know who is the charismatic soccer player who beat everyone to set the record for scoring most goals without penalty? Penalty is an essential and fun component of a soccer game and a Football match is incomplete without it. There are so many great legends who are known for their most penalty scores while some widely popular goalkeepers of all time hold the record for most penalty saves. Clearly, the significance of penalty became more evident when Argentina with the help of Messi won the 2022 FIFA World Cup by two penalty goals.
Talking about penalty wins, Cristiano Ronaldo and the Argentina captain Lionel Messi are two most popular legendary players with most penalties scored. Surprisingly, Lionel Messi surpassed the Real Madrid megastar Cristiano Ronaldo in the number of goals scored without a penalty. The former Barcelona player is ranked second on the list of most goals scored through penalty and all over career goals.
Who scored most goals without penalty?
While penalty plays such a crucial role in adding to superstar soccer players’ career goal statistics, it becomes extremely significant to find out who has more potential of scoring without penalty. The Argentine giant Lionel Messi, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time has surpassed his biggest and probably the only rival Ronaldo in numbers of goals scored without penalty.
Although Messi has around 800 successful career goals, he sticks to 672 goals when it comes to showcasing his true potential without any help of penalty. Despite having played 150 fewer games than Ronaldo, he has scored more no-penalty goals. The 35-years-old rockstar is currently playing for Paris Saint-Germain as a forward. He spent most of his career playing for Barcelona FC where he achieved the most goals tally.
In September 2022, Messi scored for Paris Saint-Germain in 1-0 match against Lyon. He scored the only goal for PSG in their Ligue 1 clash with Lyon which culminated in their Victory over Lyon. Following his win, Messi took his goal tally without penalty to 672 beating the Former Manchester United striker Ronaldo.
Number of goals without penalty is not the only thing in which Messi overtook Ronaldo. He is also ahead of the United striker in the number of trophies and titles he has won including the FIFA World Cup trophy.
How many penalties has Messi taken?
The Barcelona star is undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers of all time. The amount of success he has achieved with the clubs and country is just immeasurable. With his supreme skills and attributes, he has been dominating world football for over two decades now. He makes the people sick with tension going on between him and his opponents.
Some people also refer to him as a Magician as he does miracles with his playing abilities on the field. He has an inconceivably brilliant rate of scoring goals but his brilliance at scoring from spot kicks is just mind blowing.
With this unique ability to score from spot kicks, Messi has recorded a total of 141 penalties throughout his career scoring 109 out of them while missing the rest of 32. As usual, his success rate at achieving goals through penalties is 77%. Although he missed a great deal of penalties during his vast career, he missed them in some massive and crucial moments.
Messi missed one of his most memorable penalties in the 2016 Copa America Centenario Final against Chile in a penalty shootout which Argentina ended up losing 4-2. It seemed that this match had a huge and effective impact on him as he announced just after the match that he would be retiring from international Football. Tweets about his loss went viral on twitter along with the pictures in which he and Aguero could be seen crying.
Who has better career statistics, Messi or Ronaldo?
| Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo | |
| Appearances | 985 | 1130 |
| Goals | 775 | 816 |
| Average goals per game | 0.79 | 0.72 |
| No-penalty goals | 672 | 671 |
| Penalties taken | 133 | 174 |
| Penalties scored | 103 | 145 |
| Free-kick goals | 58 | 58 |
| Assists | 339 | 230 |
Is Ronaldo better than Messi in International games?
The Argentinian started playing for Argentina one year after his professional debut in 2004. Prior to his international debut, he scored his first remarkable goal in Argentina’s World Cup opening match against Saudi Arabia in 2006. While Ronaldo who started his professional career with Real Madrid in 2002, began his International career in 2003.
Prior to Messi’s first goal in Argentina’s World Cup opener, the PSG forward had scored 96 goals in a total of 171 appearances for Argentina. On the other hand, Ronaldo has scored 118 goals which is 22 more than Messi leading him to be the leading goal scorer of all time. The Portuguese legend has played 195 international games.
When it comes to assists, Messi is always a few steps ahead of the Real Madrid player. Despite scoring less goals and playing less games than Ronaldo, he somehow went on to beat him in assists. He has registered 55 assists in his International career while Ronaldo has only 43.
Both the players have one major award to their name at international level with Ronaldo being the winner of European championship in 2016 and the Argentinian receiving the Copa America in 2021.
Messi vs Ronaldo
Though neither of both the legends could win the Ballon d’or in 2007, they went on to dominate the football game winning Ballon d’or in the next year. After 2007, both the players won 12 Ballons in total. Ronaldo gave a kick start to this legacy in 2008 winning his first Ballon d’or, which was carried forward by Lionel Messi in 2009.
The Manchester United star Ronaldo (446 votes) received his first Ballon d’or in 2008 with Messi standing at second place with 281 votes.
In 2009, the greatest Argentine footballer, Messi claimed first Ballon d’or of his career taking revenge from Ronaldo. Messi beat Ronaldo with 250 votes to win the prestigious award.
