ANKARA
Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami will take on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in February in Saudi Arabia.
“Inter Miami CF announced today that it will travel to Saudi Arabia during 2024 preseason to participate in the Riyadh Season Cup as part of the Club’s first-ever international tour. The team will play two matches in the country in a round-robin tournament format, taking on Saudi powerhouses Al-Hilal SFC and Al Nassr FC,” the US club’s statement read on Tuesday.
Inter Miami confirmed that they will face Al-Hilal on Jan. 29, and then Al-Nassr on Feb. 1 at Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena Stadium.
Messi and Ronaldo have met 35 times so far as the game’s big figures often played against each other during their prime years in Spain.
The two talented players were always compared with each other by the football experts and fans. Messi and Ronaldo are multi-time Ballon d’Or winners each.
While they were in Spain, there was a rivalry between the two. Messi played for Barcelona, and Ronaldo was a Real Madrid regular.
In a head-to-head comparison, Messi won 16 matches, and Ronaldo took 10 wins. The remaining nine ended in draw.
In those matches, Messi scored 21 goals while Ronaldo registered 20.
Both players have won the top-tier UEFA Champions League, and local league titles many times.
Messi played for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain before his move to Inter Miami in July, while Ronaldo played for Portugal’s Sporting, Manchester United (in two different spells), Real Madrid, and Juventus before making his way to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr in January.
Ronaldo, 38, helped Portugal win the EURO 2016, his first international title. Messi’s Argentina secured the 2021 Copa America, which meant a tie at the international level until 2022.
Last winter, Messi, 36, guided Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup title. It was Argentina’s first World Cup victory since 1986.
Ronaldo, who has been playing for Portugal since 2003, has not won any World Cup yet.
