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The “shared legacy” between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi means both superstars will want to reach 1,000 competitive career goals, former MLS star Shaka Hislop has told GOAL. CR7 is currently the closer of the two to that landmark while playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, but his fellow GOAT at Inter Miami is not too far away either.

How many total goals have Ronaldo and Messi scored?

Portuguese icon Ronaldo is rapidly moving towards 980 goals for club and country, having already rewritten the record books time and again. After representing Portugal at the 2026 World Cup at the age of 41, he now has 146 international goals to his name.

He has continued to maintain extraordinary personal standards in the Middle East, collecting Golden Boots and domestic titles in the process, and there has even been talk that his remarkable career could continue beyond the expiry of his current contract in the summer of 2027.

Messi, too, is still performing at the highest level. At 39, he recently appeared in a third World Cup final and has received another Ballon d’Or nomination, adding to the eight Golden Balls already in his collection. He has also enjoyed MLS Cup success and back-to-back MVP award triumphs in the United States.

The Argentine great has retired from international football, finishing with 207 caps and 125 goals, but he remains under contract in South Florida until 2028. He is now closing in on 930 goals in total.

Will Messi want to match Ronaldo by reaching 1,000 goals?

When Hislop was asked whether there is any chance Messi would allow his long-time rival Ronaldo to reach four figures without joining him there, the former MLS goalkeeper said in an exclusive interview with GOAL: “I think that's what football almost wants to see. I think we've been treated to two players who have defined a generation unlike any other and defined this game unlike few others before them.

“The numbers that Ronaldo puts up, that Lionel Messi continues to put up, is just phenomenal. And Messi shows no signs of slowing down. If we end up with two players over 1,000 goals, that is probably in keeping with their shared legacy in this game.”

GOAT rivals chasing the same goals milestone

There is very little left for Messi and Ronaldo to achieve considering the heights they have already reached. When asked whether Messi would be especially bothered about what Ronaldo is doing, another former MLS player and ex-Manchester United team-mate of Ronaldo, Giuseppe Rossi, had previously told GOAL: “I'm not sure. I don't know. Do you think he even knows about that? Do you think he even cares about that?

“Maybe he does deep down, but I think it's two different ways that they approach the game. But I'm sure that Messi will get to 1,000 in the next three years. I think where he's at, he's at Miami until 2028, I'm sure that he'll get there.”

Dutch legend Wesley Sneijder - who left Real Madrid in the summer of 2009, the same window in which CR7 arrived at Santiago Bernabeu - has also spoken about the two icons pursuing the same target: “I think that's the next goal for both of them, 100%. Cristiano won’t stop before reaching the thousand goals. Messi has signed another two year deal. He will definitely reach one thousand goals as well.

“It's nice that we are still talking about this rivalry with one in MLS and the other in Saudi. They are two big stars and now they’re chasing a different goal of reaching 1,000 goals. Amazing. Maybe we see about counting their assists to find out who can get to 2,000 first.”

Messi and Ronaldo are both expected to continue for some time yet

Ronaldo has already been back among the goals for Al-Nassr at the start of the 2026-27 season, while Messi has returned to action for Inter Miami after his World Cup campaign with Argentina.

There are still regular questions over how much longer either player can continue, given the demands placed on their bodies over the years, but both appear determined to keep playing for as long as they possibly can.