Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo set to renew rivalry in February

Messi’s Inter Miami will face Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr on February 1.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will meet again when Inter Miami face Al-Nassr (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Archive)

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will go head to head once again when Inter Miami face Al-Nassr in a pre-season friendly in Saudi Arabia in February.

Miami, the Major League Soccer side co-owned by David Beckham, have added another fixture to their trip to the country and will take on Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr on February 1 after facing Al-Hilal on January 29, with both matches forming part of the Riyadh Season Cup.

Messi and Ronaldo have faced each other 35 times over their careers, with Messi winning 16 times and Ronaldo 10.

The Argentina forward has scored 21 goals in those games, one more than Ronaldo.

The rivalry between the pair has dominated the global game for the past 15 years and they were the only players to win the Ballon d’Or for a decade between 2008 and 2017.

Messi currently leads that particular head to head 8-5, having claimed the most recent award in October after leading Argentina to glory at the 2022 World Cup.

Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in January, with Messi moving to Miami in July.