Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are some of the most admired and highest goalscorers of their respective national teams. They have been amazing and the most phenomenal also the most loved performers of Argentina and Portugal respectively for the beloved countries.
Both the players have successfully have guided their nation on the international level like no one else could ever do, that is the capacity they hold. Ronaldo helped Portugal climb their highest first-ever-important international trophy which is the Euro Cup in the year 2016. Whereas Messi on the other hand climbed to such a position that he begged his first-ever international trophy with Argentina in the summer of the year 2021. This all happened when they won the Copa American beating arch-rivals Brazil 1-0 in the finals.
Messi and Ronaldo have achieved quite a lot of records in their lifetime till how much they have played in their international arena. Both of their team players are the top scorers and the finest and polished players in their respective teams and countries. Ronaldo recently became the wall time top scorer in international football, the points that he begged were 111 goals in 180 matches. Messi on the other hand has successfully begged 79 goals in 153 appearances for the La Albiceleste.
They are the world-renowned superstar and are the finest at their game, they play at their own full will and are also the most admired players of all time. Being such a player of such a rank they are expected to deliver their best performance whenever their team is in crisis. And rightfully they do so. Both the players have played phenomenal and have begged their team on multiple occasions and they continue to do so in the future also.
Let us have a look at the instances when Lionel Messi and Ronaldo have bailed Argentina and Portugal out of a massive or a fine crisis situation. only the matches the two megastars helped their team to win to draw or win from the adverse situation they were in.
Out of the 153 matches that he played for La Albiceleste, Messi has managed to bail out his team on the 18 occasions which are 11.76 percent of the total matches that he played.
| No. | Cap No. | Opponent | Venue | Scoreline after Messi scored | Final result | Date |
| 1 | 14 | Algeria | Barcelona | 2-2, 4-2 | 4-3 | 5/6/2007 |
| 2 | 54 | Brazil | Doha | 1-0 | 1-0 | 17/11/2010 |
| 3 | 55 | Portugal | Geneva | 2-1 | 2-1 | 9/2/2011 |
| 4 | 67 | Columbia | Barranquilla | 1-1 | 2-1 | 15/11/2011 |
| 5 | 68 | Switzerland | Bern | 1-0, 2-1, 3-1 | 3-1 | 29/2/2012 |
| 6 | 70 | Brazil | East Rutherford | 1-1, 2-1, 4-3 | 4-3 | 9/6/2012 |
| 7 | 88 | Iran | Bel Horizonte | 1-0 | 1-0 | 21/6/2014 |
| 8 | 89 | Nigeria | Porto Alegre | 1-0, 2-1 | 3-2 | 25/6/2014 |
| 9 | 96 | Croatia | London | 2-1 | 2-1 | 12/11/2014 |
| 10 | 105 | Mexico | Arlington | 2-2 | 2-2 | 8/9/2015 |
| 11 | 114 | Uruguay | Mendoza | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1/9/2016 |
| 12 | 117 | Chili | Buenos Aires | 1-0 | 1-0 | 23/3/2017 |
| 13 | 121 | Ecuador | Quito | 1-1, 2-1, 3-1 | 3-1 | 10/10/2017 |
| 14 | 132 | Paraguay | Bel Horizonte | 1-1 | 1-1 | 19/6/2019 |
| 15 | 137 | Brazil | Riyadh | 1-0 | 1-0 | 15/11/2019 |
| 16 | 138 | Uruguay | Tel Aviv | 2-2 | 2-2 | 18/11/2019 |
| 17 | 139 | Ecuador | Buenos Aires | 1-0 | 1-0 | 8/10/2020 |
| 18 | 153 | Bolivia | Buenos Aires | 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 | 3-0 | 9/9/2021 |
Out of the 180 matches that Ronaldo has actively played for Seleccao, the superstar has successfully managed to bail out his tea on 24 occasions which are 133.33 percent of the total number of matches played.
| No. | Cap No. | Opponent | Venue | Scoreline after Ronaldo scored | Final result | Date |
| 1 | 23 | Estonia | Tallinn | 1-0 | 1-0 | 8/6/2005 |
| 2 | 47 | America | Yerevan | 1-1 | 1-1 | 22/8/2007 |
| 3 | 62 | Finland | Faro | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1/2/2009 |
| 4 | 93 | Netherlands | Kharkiv | 1-1, 2-1 | 2-1 | 17/6/2012 |
| 5 | 94 | Czech Republic | Warsaw | 1-0, 1-0 | 1-0 | 21/6/2012 |
| 6 | 104 | Croatia | Geneva | 1-0 | 1-0 | 10/6/2013 |
| 7 | 105 | Netherland | Faro | 1-1 | 1-1 | 14/8/2013 |
| 8 | 106 | Northern Ireland | Belfast | 2-2, 3-2, 4-2 | 4-2 | 6/9/2013 |
| 9 | 108 | Sweden | Lisbon | 1-0 | 1-0 | 15/11/2013 |
| 10 | 109 | Sweden | Solna | 1-0, 2-2, 3-2 | 3-2 | 19/11/2013 |
| 11 | 114 | Ghana | Brasilia | 2-1 | 2-1 | 26/6/2014 |
| 12 | 116 | Denmark | Copenhagen | 1-0 | 1-0 | 14/10/2014 |
| 13 | 117 | Armenia | Faro | 1-0 | 1-0 | 14/11/2014 |
| 14 | 120 | Armenia | Yerevan | 1-1, 2-1, 3-1 | 3-2 | 13/6/2014 |
| 15 | 129 | Hungary | Lyon | 2-2, 3-3 | 3-3 | 22/6/2016 |
| 16 | 141 | Russia | Moscow | 1-0 | 1-0 | 21/6/2017 |
| 17 | 148 | Egypt | Zurich | 1-1, 2-1 | 2-1 | 23/3/2018 |
| 18 | 151 | Spain | Sochi | 1-0, 2-1, 3-3 | 3-3 | 15/6/2018 |
| 19 | 152 | Morocco | Moscow | 1-0 | 1-0 | 5/6/2019 |