Ronaldo is a couple of years older than Messi, having turned 39 in February 2024. His 38th year saw him score 53 goals for Al-Nassr and Portugal. That stretch was also marked by a series of increasingly disappointing performances at Euro 2024, where he went scoreless across five matches as Portugal exited in the quarter-finals.
Messi has scored goals for fun at club level as a 38-year-old, but has also shown up for Argentina. He scored five times in their opening World Cup matches against Algeria and Austria as the defending champions made a strong start to their title defence. Messi netted twice against Austria in that run.
Lisandro Martinez spoke after that Austria performance:
There are no words for Leo. There's no point comparing him because he's alone at the top. All that's left is to enjoy him. I'm incredibly proud to have him by my side and for him to be Argentine. We have to appreciate him.
For his part, Messi has said he is focused more on enjoying his game rather than chasing statistics. In a 2025 interview, he addressed that mindset directly:
I don't like statistics; today everything is about that. I like to be very involved in the game. There were years when we won everything: reaching the Copa América final with the national team, winning the Champions League with Barcelona. It's difficult. In 2012, I scored around 91 goals. I don't play for that, I never cared about it. It wasn't in my mind to make an assist just to break a record or surpass someone else. It's hard to choose one year; thankfully I've had many very good ones.
Regardless of Messi's personal taste for numbers, the age-38 records for both players tell a detailed story across club and international football.
Lionel Messi as a 38-year-old
Messi's age-38 line covers 50 games and 4,234 minutes played. He scored 50 goals and recorded 30 assists for 80 total goal contributions. He converted 4 penalties, scored 2 hat-tricks, and added 3 free-kick goals.
On efficiency, Messi averaged 84.7 minutes per goal, 92.0 minutes per non-penalty goal, and 52.9 minutes per goal or assist.
Cristiano Ronaldo as a 38-year-old
Ronaldo's age-38 numbers span 56 games and 4,914 minutes played. He scored 53 goals and posted 15 assists for 68 total goal contributions. He converted 14 penalties, scored 3 hat-tricks, and added 3 free-kick goals.
Ronaldo averaged 92.7 minutes per goal, 126.0 minutes per non-penalty goal, and 72.3 minutes per goal or assist across that same age window.
Head to head at 38, Ronaldo posted more goals, more games, more minutes, more penalties scored, and more hat-tricks. Messi led on assists, total goal contributions, and every listed efficiency rate: minutes per goal, minutes per non-penalty goal, and minutes per goal or assist. Both players scored 3 free-kick goals in the period under review.
