Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't have the best of luck when it comes to playing against France.

Well, on an individual level at least, because we're pretty sure the Juventus superstar has fond memories of playing Les Bleus in the European Championship final four years ago.

Nevertheless, even that potentially career-defining evening in Paris wasn't plain sailing for the 35-year-old as he was forced to watch his team from the sidelines after a first-half injury.

Portugal vs France

And there was more individual misfortune for Ronaldo against the world champions on Saturday night as his Portugal side came up short in a 1-0 defeat in the UEFA Nations League.

The clash between the European giants was ultimately settled by an unlikely source with Chelsea's N'Golo Kante scoring just his second international goal with a poacher's finish in the six-yard box.

However, Portugal didn't draw a blank without some valiant efforts from Ronaldo as the Juve man stung Hugo Lloris' hands from range and fired a knuckle-ball free-kick wide of the post.

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Ronaldo's record vs France

On the whole, though, it wasn't a vintage performance from either Ronaldo or Portugal and even prompted an unenviable statistic for the former.

That's because Ronaldo has now gone six games without scoring against France, making them the opponent he has faced the most for either club or country without ever finding the net.

Even a player with the unbounded talents of Ronaldo is allowed a bogey team, right? Well, while that's certainly true, another blank against France has highlighted another interesting theme.

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Ronaldo vs WC-winning teams

In fact, Ronaldo seems to struggle across the board when it comes to netting against teams to have won the World Cup, which is effectively shorthand for some of the best international sides.

Aside from Ronaldo's legendary World Cup hat-trick against Spain, the Real Madrid legend's only other eligible strike came during an international friendly with Argentina in 2011.

That brings his total to a pretty underwhelming four goals and zero assists, which is rather surprising for someone who is typically lethal when it comes to the biggest games.

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Ronaldo's stats compared to Messi

Now, it wouldn't be a Ronaldo statistics if it wasn't compared to his eternal rival Lionel Messi and that's exactly where things become interesting because their data isn't even close.

The Barcelona superstar has notched a comparatively-outrageous 14 strikes, as well as four assists, against nations who have gotten their hands on football's ultimate prize.

Now, if you're wondering whether Messi has an unfair advantage here by way of playing South American opposition more regularly, it's a fair concern, but one that simply doesn't stand up.

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Messi: 14 goals vs WC-winning teams

That's because four of Messi's 14 finishes against World Cup winners have come against European winners with France, Germany and Spain all being on the receiving end of his brilliance.

And lest we forget that although France dumped Argentina out of the last World Cup with a 4-3 victory, that Messi still impressed with a superb performance that harvested two assists.

So, sure, it's a niche statistic and hardly one that puts the Messi vs Ronaldo debate to bed, but it certainly exposes a clear discrepancy in a key area of the two superstar's international careers. 

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Then again, I'm sure Ronaldo won't be losing too much sleep over it with 102 strikes for Portugal to his name and an inevitable place in history as the greatest international goalscorer of all time.