Who is Ruiz, the World Cup scorer who is catching up with Ronaldo and Messi?

Messi scored two goals in the World Cup qualifiers on September 5, tying Ronaldo, the second-ranked World Cup total scorer list with 36 goals. In the World Cup qualifiers on September 7, Ronaldo scored two goals, winning the second place with 38 goals, and once again surpassing Messi.

Because there is only the last round of the World Cup qualifiers in South America, Argentina has already qualified in advance. Messi made it clear that he would not participate in the last round of Argentina's away game against Ecuador, but would focus on preparing for the game he played for Miami International Club. Therefore, Messi's World Cup qualifiers will be fixed at 36 goals, and he will not participate in the next World Cup qualifiers.

Ronaldo is different. He only participated in the first round of the 2026 World Cup European qualifiers, and there are five rounds later. Whether from the perspective of leading Portugal to the World Cup, or fighting for his own great goals or competing for the World Cup scorer, this superstar still has enough motivation to score.

Currently ranked first in the World Cup total scorer list is Carlos Ruiz, the "King of Guatemala Football Team", who is only one goal ahead of Ronaldo with 39 goals, but Ruiz has never participated in the World Cup.

Since the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup qualifiers, Guatemala striker Ruiz has participated in five World Cup qualifiers. On September 6, 2016, in the last round of Group C of the fourth round of the World Cup qualifiers, Guatemala defeated Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 9-3, Ruiz scored 5 goals, and the World Cup qualifiers scored 39 goals, surpassing the Iranian star Ali Dei (35 goals), who ranked first in the World Cup scorer list at the time, and became the player with the most goals in World Cup history. Ruiz retired in January 2017 and will turn 46 on September 15.

In the early morning of September 10, Portugal will challenge Hungary in the World Cup away game, and Ronaldo has the opportunity to tie or surpass Ruiz.

Text丨Reporter Liu Yi

Picture丨Visual China