Cristiano Ronaldo admits defeat in race with Lionel Messi for prestigious record

Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted he is no longer interested in overtaking Lionel Messi’s Ballon d’Or record.

The 39-year-old has won the Ballon d’Or five times, but hasn’t received a nomination for the award in the last two years.

The pair shared the award over 10 seasons from 2008-2017

Messi picked up a record eighth Ballon d’Or last October, after winning the World Cup with Argentina during the December tournament in Qatar.

Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in January 2023 following a dispute with Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.

He has scored 53 goals for the Saudi Pro League side since his arrival and became the league’s top scorer in a single season last May with 35.

Ronaldo bagged a second after Sadio Mane in his side’s 2-1 win over Qatari team Al-Rayyan in the AFC Champions League group stage on Monday.

But it was last month when he stole the national headlines by scoring his 900th goal for club and country playing for his national side.

The former Real Madrid and Juventus star’s professional football career has spanned 22 years since his early days at Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon.

But, for the second consecutive time in two years, the Portugal captain was not nominated for the Ballon d’Or, a trophy he last won in 2017 playing for Madrid.

The 2024 Men’s Player of the Year nominees include the likes of Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, but Ronaldo was excluded, along with his old rival Messi.

When Messi won last year’s award, Bellingham won the Kopa Trophy for being the world’s best player under the age of 21, while Haaland finished second and Mbappe third.

Ronaldo and Messi have won the Ballon d’Or every year since 2008, aside from Luka Modric and Karim Benzema’s triumph in 2018 and 2022 respectively.

Ronaldo is on his way to scoring 1,000 career goals after recently hitting the 900 markGetty

However, Ronaldo has now said he had no interest in chasing individual accolades anymore.

“It is not important anymore whether I am the best or not, I longer care about that,” Ronaldo said at a press conference after his side’s victory over Al Rayyan.

“It is good for a player to score goals, but for me it is better for the team to win.

“I am used to breaking records and I no longer look for them. The most important thing for me now is to enjoy and help Al Nassr and my teammates to win.”

Ronaldo confirmed to Portuguese TV channel Now in August that he would ‘probably’ retire at Al-Nassr, but only after two or three more seasons with the club.

He won the Arab Club Champions Cup in 2023 with the club but is yet to add a domestic title to his Saudi Arabia collection after consecutive second place league finishes.