Can Messi’s Argentina and Ronaldo’s Portugal meet in knockouts of World Cup?

Messi and Ronaldo have faced off countless times for their clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona but have never met in a World Cup stage.

FIFA World Cup Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi's Argentina are likely to face Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup. (AP)

By: Sports Desk

3 min readJun 26, 2026 11:41 PM IST First published on: Jun 26, 2026 at 06:07 PM IST

One of the most mouthwatering clashes in recent World Cup might take place in the quarterfinals if Lionel Messi’s Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal can both survive their respective Round of 32 clashes. The two legends have faced off countless times for their clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona but have never met in a World Cup stage. The last time these two rivals shared a pitch together was in a friendly match where Messi’s Paris Saint Germain played a friendly against a combined all-star XI of Al Hilal and Al Nassr, who also included Ronaldo. PSG ended up winning the match 5-4 with both Messi and Ronaldo on the scoresheet.

Now, they might face off once again in a potential quarterfinal match this World Cup. Both players look to be at their best with Messi scoring a hattrick and a brace vs Algeria and Austria respectively while Ronaldo roared back to form with 2 goals vs Uzbekistan after a quiet night vs Congo.

How will we get to a potential quarterfinal between these two living legends? We’ll explain

Argentina’s journey

Messi and Argentina who have already defeated Austria and Algeria will play Jordan next Sunday and are expected to top Group J. In case of that, they’ll play their Round of 32 match against the second placed team of Group H which consists Spain, Uruguay, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia. The toughest opponent they might face in that case might be Spain or Uruguay. If they go past one of these two teams, they will face the winners of the Round of 32 match between Australia and the second placed team of Group G which has Egypt, Iran, Belgium and New Zealand. Winning that match, they are likely to face Ronaldo’s Portugal in the quarterfinals

Also Read | World Cup 2026 Group H: Can Spain be knocked out? Points Table, qualification scenarios

Portugal’s journey

In Portugal’s case, they need to top their groups as well for the dream match-up to happen. To do that, they must defeat Colombia in their last group match on Sunday. If they manage to pull that off, they’ll face the third-placed team from one of groups D, E, I, J, L. If they cross that hurdle, they are likely to face the winner of the Round of 32 match between Switzerland and the 3rd placed team of Groups E, F, G, I, J in the Round of 16. If the manage that, they’ll play Argentina and Messi in one of the quarterfinal.

ALSO READ | FIFA World Cup: Which teams are in Round of 32, and who’s eliminated

Can Argentina and Portugal face off in the Round of 16?

There’s a very faint chance that these two teams can face off in the Round of 16. That is if by a miracle both Argentina and Portugal finish second in their respective groups. However, in that scenario, their Round of 32 opponents would be a lot tougher with Argentina likely to face Spain/Uruguay and Portugal likely to take on Croatia.