Messi and Ronaldo have opposite achievements at the Olympics.
Over the years, superstars Ronaldo and Messi have been fiercely competing for titles, from club level to national team. However, if we only consider achievements at the Olympics, Messi has an absolute advantage over his colleague. In the past, both have attended the Olympics but have had opposite achievements.
Ronaldo and his teammates attended the 2004 Olympics held in Athens, Greece. In the opening match, CR7’s Portugal lost 2-4 to the Asian representative Iraq. In the second match, Ronaldo himself shone with the opening goal, contributing to the home team’s 2-1 victory over Morocco.
In the final match, the ticket to the next round was very close for the Portuguese Olympic team when they led 2-1 against Costa Rica after an hour of play. However, the whole team let the opponent win 4-2. This result caused the Portuguese Olympic team to leave the tournament at the bottom of the table. Ronaldo was said to have burst into tears after the match ended. This was also the only time Ronaldo attended the Olympics.
That year, Argentina won the championship. However, Messi did not participate because he was too young at that time.
Superstar Lionel Messi competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the age of 21. This was the tournament where the Argentine Olympic team featured the golden generation of Messi, Di Maria, Aguero and captain Juan Riquelme. The whole team played brilliantly, winning all 6 matches to win the championship. Notably, the Argentine Olympic team also defeated Ronaldinho’s Brazil 3-0 in the semi-finals.
As for Messi personally, the superstar born in 1987 had a good performance with 2 goals and 3 assists. In which, Messi had a goal against Ivory Coast in the group stage and the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
This year, Messi was rumored to return to the Olympics with the Argentina team. However, the 37-year-old superstar ultimately did not attend. At the moment, Messi is also in the process of recovering from an ankle injury suffered in the Copa America final earlier last week.
Men’s football at the 2024 Olympics kicks off
On the evening of July 24, the 2024 Olympics will officially begin with the men’s football matches. At 8 p.m., the two giants of world football, Argentina and Spain, will simultaneously take to the field. While the Argentine Olympic team will face off against tough opponent Morocco, the Spanish Olympic team will compete with Asian representative Uzbekistan.
At 10pm, Guinea will meet New Zealand and Egypt will meet the Dominican Republic. In the early morning of July 25, 4 more matches will take place. France, Japan and the US will all take the field. In the early morning of July 25, the first round of matches will end with 4 matches remaining.
The men’s football event at the 2024 Olympics will feature 16 teams, divided into four groups. The teams will play a round robin to determine the top two teams in each group to advance to the quarterfinals. The men’s football event will take place from July 24 to August 9. Brazil is the defending champion but will be absent this year due to failing to qualify.
