Lionel Messi joins Cristiano Ronaldo as he reaches incredible goalscoring milestone after latest Inter Miami brace

Lionel Messi has now joined Cristiano Ronaldo in the 500 league goals club after netting a brace in Inter Miami's 5-0 MLS win over Orlando City on Saturday, March 2.

Messi scored his 500th league goal in his 587th league appearance. The Argentine took 67 games fewer than Ronaldo, who reached 500 league goals last year.

Messi scored 474 La Liga goals with Barcelona, 22 Ligue 1 goals with PSG, and now has four MLS goals with Inter Miami. Cristiano Ronaldo's portfolio, though, is much more diversified than Messi's.

The Portugal captain scored three Liga Portugal goals with Sporting CP, 103 Premier League goals with Manchester United, 311 La Liga goals with Real Madrid, 81 Serie goals with Juventus, and 37 Saudi Pro League goals with Al-Nassr.

Ronaldo currently has 534 league goals in 687 appearances and his overall career tally is 877 for club and country. The Portugal captain is getting closer to becoming the first footballer ever to reach the 900-goal landmark.

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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are on Ronaldo Nazario's GOAT list

Back in 2021, Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario was asked to name his four greatest footballer picks of all time. He named Pele, Diego Maradona, Messi, and Ronaldo.

Speaking at an event, Ronaldo said (via GOAL):

"For me, in the classification of the best in history, the four names would be Pele, [Diego] Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They are the top four in the history of football."

Ronaldo Nazario, himself, is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. In his prime, the Brazilian was a menacing striker, terrorizing opposing defenders with his skills and eye for goal. He won the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Brazil, scoring twice in the final against Germany.