Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo share unwanted stat at Euro 2024 and Copa America
In a rare first for Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, the aging superstar duo have seen impressive goalscoring streaks come to an end.
Participating in Copa America and Euro 2024 respectively, Messi and Ronaldo each failed to score in the group stage of a major tournament for the first time in their nearly two-decade international careers.
For Messi, his struggles to find the back of net have amounted to an insignificant blip on Argentina's dominant Copa America run. The current Inter Miami midfielder provided an 88th-minute assist to Lautauro Martinez in Argentina's opener to clinch a 2-0 victory over Canada and was comfortably La Albiceleste's best player in an often-frustrating 1-0 escape from Chile, registering five key passes and successfully completing all seven of his dribbles and totaling a 94 percent pass accuracy score.
The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner's unwanted record this summer was also skewed as he elected to sit out of Argentina's final group stage game Sunday with a first-place finish in Group A effectively secured. The heavily-rotated side still managed to control 75 percent of possession against Peru and cruised to a 2-0 victory, finishing group play with a flawless nine points.
Ronaldo and Portugal, however, faced a slightly bumpier road on the European stage as the Saudi Pro League star boiled over with frustrations about his performances, refereeing and perhaps the new-found limitations of age. The 39-year-old striker nearly facilitated his nation's escape from Czech Republic in Portugal's opening game, firing a header off the woodwork that allowed Diogo Jota to pounce, but a VAR review determined the former Real Madrid forward was offside.
A stoppage-time goal from Francisco Conceicao ultimately guided Portugal past the Czechs and the coastal nation cruised past Turkey in the second game, with Ronaldo capping a 3-0 scoreline with his seventh career assist at the Euros, the most of any player on record.
Ronaldo has totaled the most ever assists at the Euros
Portugal enjoyed a similar situation to Argentina, clinching passage into the knockouts after two games, and while eight outfield players opted to rest in the final group stage game against Georgia, Ronaldo was one of the lone returnees into the starting XI. The mismatched Portuguese side appeared expectedly disjointed, and after Ronaldo suffered an evident shirt pull in the penalty area, the legendary football star earned a yellow card for a demonstrative, furious outburst towards the referee.
Ronaldo finished the afternoon with just a lone shot on target, zero successful dribbles and a relatively sloppy passing effort, allowing Georgia to capture a stunning 2-0 victory and advance out of the group stages for the first time ever. The footballing icon faces a stiff test in notching his first Euro 2024 goal Monday as Portugal battles Jan Oblak and Slovenia in the Round of 16.
Meanwhile, Messi and Argentina will await their quarterfinal opponent as they face the runner-up of Group B, which could be earned by Venezuela, Mexico or Ecuador.