An imaginary scenario: Messi and Ronaldo retire in a single match
Could that have happened?
Football careers rarely run in parallel. One star begins his journey as another ends his, or nears the end, which makes any comparison a thorny business given the shifting circumstances and the different opponents each man faced.
The first quarter of the twenty-first century served up something extraordinary. For once, the careers of two of the finest players in history overlapped, if not the two greatest of all time.
Messi and Ronaldo: one road
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rose to stardom a few years into the third millennium, sparking a fierce rivalry that still rages today. One of them has now begun his fifth decade of life, the other is closing out his fourth.
Their paths crossed in the Spanish league for nine years. Ronaldo led Real Madrid against the Barcelona flood that swept everything away under Messi.
For more than 15 years the two shared the individual honours podiums, above all the throne of the Ballon d'Or. Messi snatched it eight times, against five for the Portuguese.
Both men eventually left the Spanish league in search of a European destination to match the history they left behind in La Liga. Instead, they bid farewell to the old continent altogether, opening a new chapter in the Saudi and American leagues.
On the international stage, abject failure dogged the pair for more than a decade. Ronaldo broke the curse first, winning Euro 2016 and then the 2019 UEFA Nations League, with Messi following him by claiming the 2021 Copa América.
"The Flea" delivered the knockout blow. He was crowned World Cup champion in 2022 in Qatar, then lifted the Finalissima in 2023 and the 2024 Copa América, before "The Don" rounded off his international titles with the 2025 UEFA Nations League.
Messi's final stop
The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico was always going to end this similar and intertwined path at international level. It would be the last for both stars on the football pitch.
Everyone accepts that the 2026 World Cup is the final tournament of their careers. A historic match could have drawn the curtain on their international days and settled the long rivalry that bound them together.
Messi, in fact, has decided to retire from international football at the first break after the 2026 World Cup, during this October. Yet his farewell came in a friendly against Benin.
That ending could have been historic: a single match pitting Argentina against Portugal, bearing witness to the end of the international careers of two of the finest players in history.
Jorge Jesus's betrayal
That outcome always looked possible. Several reports suggested Ronaldo also wanted to bow out of international football by playing his final match for Portugal against Wales in the UEFA Nations League, in the Portuguese capital Lisbon.
Jorge Jesus wrecked that scenario. The Portugal head coach talked Ronaldo out of international retirement and urged him to keep playing for the "Brazil of Europe" a while longer, according to statements from "the Don".
Ronaldo confirmed he had been ready to quit international football after the World Cup. Jesus convinced him to carry on, then broke his promise twice, sparking the crisis that has flared between the pair in recent weeks.
The upshot is stark. Ronaldo now risks having effectively retired at international level without the match or the send-off befitting his illustrious career with Portugal, all because of his row with Jesus.
Obstacles on the road
Even without that, a Portugal versus Argentina showdown was never going to come together easily. The UEFA Nations League swallowed up the entire last international break, its fixtures leaving no window to arrange another match.
Retirement posed another problem. Neither Ronaldo nor Messi would want to bow out in his final international on his rival's turf, in Portugal or Argentina, and that alone threatened to sink the whole idea.
A historic neutral venue might have worked, somewhere like Wembley or one of the Spanish grounds that staged their greatest nights. But that would have robbed both stars of a farewell on home soil.
