Most wins by a player in international football: Cristiano Ronaldo leads the way

International Football often finds itself in the periphery with club games and competitions dominating the international calendar. 

Though it takes the front seat during World Cups and continental championships, the number of games played otherwise are few and far between in international football compared to club games. 

Also, the qualifiers for major tournaments and international friendlies do not happen regularly. So players have to hit the ground running to quickly get used to the prevailing system and to sync up with other players in the national set-up.

As a result, it becomes difficult to get things on track and churn out wins for their national side, even for highly skilled players. The number of matches and wins in a player’s international career will be much less compared to their club numbers.

In that light, a player with more than a hundred wins would have had a long career at the international level achieving something special. It is not often that we come across players having such levels of longevity and consistency, which is also an ode to their fitness levels.

Having said that, let us glance through the list of players with the most wins in international football.

Most wins by a player in international football

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo leads the list of players with the most wins in international football with 132 victories. The Spanish duo of Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas are second and third, respectively, with 131 and 121 wins.

Argentine Lionel Messi is fourth on the list with 119 wins in international football.

Most wins by a player in international football

Cristiano Ronaldo | 132 wins

Cristiano Ronaldo is on top of the list of players with the most wins in international football having won 132 matches for Portugal. 

The 39-year-old Ronaldo made his senior debut with Portugal in August 2003 at the age of 18. He went on to represent his country in six European Championships, the most by any player, and five World Cups.

Ronaldo also led Portugal to the UEFA EURO 2016 title, their first major title in international football. He is also on top of the scoring charts in the international scene with 135 goals.  

Sergio Ramos | 131 wins

Sergio Ramos is second on the list of players with the most wins in international football with 131 victories for Spain. He made his debut for Spain’s senior side in an international friendly against China in March 2005.

The former Real Madrid defender was part of the golden generation of Spanish football that won three major titles in a row from 2008 to 2012. He was part of the team that won back-to-back European championships in 2008 and 2012 along with the World Cup in between, in 2010.

Ramos also has a tally of 23 goals from 180 senior appearances for Spain.

Iker Casillas | 121 wins

Iker Casillas, who was the captain of the Spanish football team during their golden reign, is in third place for most wins by a player in international football with 121 victories in his career. 

The former Real Madrid goalkeeper made his senior debut in June 2000 and went on to lift three consecutive major trophies with Spain from 2008 to 2012. He kept a clean sheet in each of the final matches in those tournaments.

Spain notched up identical 1-0 wins over Germany in the EURO 2008 final and against the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final before thrashing Italy 4-0 in the final of EURO 2012.

Photo credit: Imago