Sky Sport Italia rewinds to summer 2003, when neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo had yet played senior international football. The feature treats that moment as a time capsule, with European football already shifting around Juventus, AC Milan, Portugal and the two players who would soon define the next era.

Summer 2003 before the debuts

The narration says the era of Messi and Ronaldo with the national team has officially ended. It then jumps back to the summer of 2003, before either had appeared for the senior side, and the contrast is obvious enough in the details that follow.

Juventus were Italian champions for the second consecutive season, while Alex Ferguson's Manchester United had triumphed ahead of Arsenal in England. In the Champions League final at Old Trafford on 28 May 2003, AC Milan beat Juventus on penalties after a 0-0 draw, and on 12 August 2003 Manchester United officially announced Cristiano Ronaldo's signing for around €17.5 million.

Kakà arrived at Milan from Sao Paulo for around €8.5 million in August 2003, Ronaldinho was arriving at Barcelona and Abramovich had just transformed Chelsea. The point of the piece is simple: the game already looked different before either player had taken a senior international step.

The debuts that followed

Ronaldo made his senior Portugal debut on 20 August 2003 in a friendly against Kazakhstan. Messi followed for Argentina on 17 August 2005 against Hungary.

The timeline is worth dwelling on because the last window without either player in the squad dated back to November 2018. Even now, Messi's 2026 World Cup output stands at 8 goals in 8 appearances with 4 assists, while Ronaldo has 3 goals in 5 World Cup appearances in 2026.

Portugal sit second in Group K with 5 points from 3 matches and a +5 goal difference. Argentina are top of Group J with 3 wins from 3, 8 goals for and only 1 against. That is the present-day backdrop to a look back at a football world that was already changing long before either legend reached the senior international stage.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →