Lionel Messi became only the second men’s player in football history to reach the 900 career goal mark. He scored in a 1-1 draw in the Concacaf Champions Cup match between Inter Miami and Nashville SC on Wednesday, March 18, to break his rival Cristiano Ronaldo's historic record.

In the first leg, both teams ended the encounter on a 0-0 draw. The second leg also ended in a 1-1 draw between the teams. However, Nashville SC eliminated Inter Miami from the competition on away goals. Nashville’s Cristian Espinoza scored the crucial goal, which ultimately became the match-winner between the teams.

Since joining Inter Miami, Lionel Messi has scored 81 goals and provided 43 assists in 93 matches in all competitions. This season, Messi has scored four goals and chipped in with one assist in all competitions for the MSL side.

Lionel Messi has scored the majority of his career goals at Barcelona. He scored 672 goals while being in Spain, he managed to score 32 goals at Paris Saint-Germain, and then finally came to Inter Miami and scored 81 goals. Besides that, he has also scored 115 goals for the Argentina national men’s football team.

Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry

Lionel Messi scored 900 career goals in 1,142 official matches, while Cristiano Ronaldo took 1,236 matches to score 900 career goals. Messi needed fewer games to score 900 goals and also did it at the age of 38. Ronaldo was 39 when he reached this historic feat.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 450 goals at Real Madrid. At Manchester United, he scored 145 goals. During his time at Juventus, Ronaldo scored 101 goals. In Sporting CP, the Portuguese captain scored only five goals. At his current club, Al Nassar, Ronaldo has scored 121 goals. For his national side, Portugal, he has scored 143 goals.

Over the span of 15 years, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been at the very top of the sport. Messi has won eight Ballon d’Or awards in his career, while Cristiano Ronaldo has won five Ballon d’Or awards in his career. In total, Messi has won 48 trophies in his entire career, till now and Ronaldo has won 36 trophies till now.

In terms of the entire career goals, Cristiano Ronaldo is leading the race with 965 goals at the moment and looking to achieve 1,000 career goals before hanging up his boots. Among active players, only Robert Lewandowski is in any type of contention, as the Polish international has scored 690 goals till now in his entire career.

No matter who you support, the greatness of both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be denied. It will be a sad day for all football supporters when Messi and Ronaldo decide to retire from football.

Also read: What Messi really took away from his India tour