Is Ronaldo better than Messi in penalty kicks? Statistical analysis

The rivalry between the two biggest stars of world football - Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi - is always an interesting topic for football fans. They are compared in every field - dribbling, goals, assists, trophies and, of course, penalty kicks. In this article, we will analyze their performance in terms of kicks from the 11-meter mark.

Ronaldo's penalty statistics

In 2025, Cristiano Ronaldo, who turned 40, is still playing at a high level. He continues to score goals as a key player in the attack for the Saudi Arabian club Al-Nasr and the Portuguese national team.

In one of the last matches, in the match between Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal, Ronaldo scored two goals, one of which was a penalty. This brought his total number of goals scored in his career to 931.

In terms of penalties, Ronaldo has approached the penalty spot a total of 206 times and scored the ball in the goal 174 times. This is an accuracy of 84.47%.

Messi's penalty statistics

Lionel Messi has also scored many important goals and taken penalty kicks during his career. He has taken 140 penalties and succeeded 109 times. This is an accuracy of 77.86%.

For comparison: Messi has missed 31 penalties, while Ronaldo has 32. However, since Ronaldo has made more attempts in total, his efficiency remains high.

Who has the advantage in penalty kicks?
Statistically, Cristiano Ronaldo has a better penalty kick accuracy than Lionel Messi. His 84.47% accuracy is higher than the Argentine's 77.86%.

Of course, numbers don't mean everything in football, but in crucial situations like penalties, accuracy is of great importance. From this point of view, Ronaldo inspires more confidence in penalty kicks. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”