Ronaldo vs. Yamal: Comparing their careers ahead of UEFA Nations League final

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Since Lamine Yamal burst onto the scene in 2023, he’s drawn comparisons to Lionel Messi, who many consider to be the greatest soccer player of all time. But ahead of Spain’s meeting with Portugal in Sunday’s UEFA Nations League final (3 p.m. ET on FOX), all eyes are on Yamal and Messi’s career rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, 40, is 23 years older than Yamal, 17, but Yamal’s international résumé already stacks up well against one of the greatest strikers of all time. Here’s an in-depth look at the two stars of the UEFA Nations League final:

Yamal at 17

Lamine Yamal was named Young Player of the Tournament at Euro 2024, one day after his 17th birthday. (Photo by Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Yamal broke a number of records at Euro 2024. At 16 years old, Yamal became the youngest player in Euros history to appear in a match (16 years and 338 days old) and followed that up by becoming the youngest-ever player to score in a Euros match (16 years and 362 days old).

He ended the tournament with one goal and four assists, including an assist in the final. Not only is he the youngest player to record an assist in a major tournament (17 years and 1 day old), but his four assists are tied for the most in a single edition of the Euros. He was named the Young Player of the Tournament.

Yamal followed his breakout tournament with a monster club season with FC Barcelona. Yamal recorded 18 goals and 25 assists in all competitions with Barcelona this past season (55 appearances). For context, Ronaldo had five goals and six assists in his age-17 season (31 appearances). In fact, Ronaldo didn’t have a season with more than 15 goals until his age-21 season.

Barcelona won the 2024-25 LaLiga title with Yamal leading the league in assists (13). He’s won four trophies at the club level with Barcelona and one major international trophy with Spain. If he wins the UEFA Nations League title on Sunday, he’ll have as many international trophies as Ronaldo does at 40. Ronaldo has won the Euros (2016) and Nations League (2019).

Ronaldo at 40

Cristiano Ronaldo holds the men’s record for most games and goals scored in international competition. (Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Sports Press Photo/Getty Images)

As bright as the start of Yamal’s career has been, he has a lot of work to do to catch up to Ronaldo.

With a goal against Germany in the UEFA Nations League semifinals, Ronaldo extended his all-time record for men’s international goals to 137 goals. He broke the record as a 36-year-old by scoring twice in a European qualifier against Ireland in September 2021. That took his tally to 111 goals in 180 games for Portugal, surpassing the previous mark by Iran’s Ali Daei.

In 2022, Ronaldo became the first men’s player to score in five different World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022). Brazil’s Marta and Canada’s Christine Sinclair have done it in the Women’s World Cup.

Ronaldo also holds the all-time record for men’s international appearances with 220, which is 28 more than the next active player on the list, Lionel Messi. The player with the second-most international appearances, Bader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait, retired from international play in 2022.

The one knock on Ronaldo’s stacked résumé is his lack of silverware at the international level, although he did lead Portugal to the Euro 2016 and the 2019 Nations League crown. But his success at the club level makes up for it. Not only does he have five Champions League titles to his name — which is tied for the second-most of all time — but he’s also the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with 141 goals, including 67 knockout stage goals and three goals in the tournament’s finals.

In total, Ronaldo has won 31 club trophies in his career across four different leagues. Individually, his five Ballon d’Or awards are the second-most of all time behind Lionel Messi (8).

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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