It has perhaps been the biggest debate in world football over the past decades. Forget bitter club rivalries, the battle for supremacy within the beautiful game between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has been the real centre of attention.
Both are undoubtedly among the greatest players to ever play the game. Winning trophy after trophy with national teams Argentina and Portugal, and club sides Barcelona and Real Madrid, the pair have dominated the sport since the early 2000s. Now, however, with both in the twilight of their careers, it’s time to accept that one simply is better than the other.
To a degree, football – like art – is subjective. There will always be room for opinions to differ on certain matters. However, when looking across everything that has been achieved between Messi and Ronaldo, it’s clear that the Argentine is the superior football. He comes out on top in a number of areas such as honours won, goal contributions per game, style of play and respect of former teammates.
Messi Has Won More Honours
Trophy cabinet much larger than Ronaldo’s
It’s good to start off with some inarguable facts. In the history of men’s football, nobody has won more major honours than Messi. Having lifted Copa America with Argentina in the summer 2024, the Inter Miami star has now picked up 45 trophies since making his debut in 2003. Ronaldo is some way behind, 10th on that list, with a more than respectable 35 honours to his name.
It’s interesting to note that while the pair both competed in La Liga, the Real Madrid icon won the division on just two occasions, while the Barcelona man lifted the league trophy six times – also winning the competition on four other occasions when Ronaldo was competing in different leagues.
On the international stage, Ronaldo did strike the first blow. Indeed, he won his first major honour in 2016 as Portugal achieved glory at Euro 2016. Messi had to wait until 2021 to finally get his hands on silverware with Argentina, winning Copa America, but has since the competition in 2024 as well.
What’s more, perhaps most importantly, the Rosario-born star has also won the game’s most revered competition: the World Cup. Indeed, Messi was voted the competition’s best player when Argentina won in Qatar 2022. For many – having now won the same competition lifted by other greats Pele and Diego Maradona – this achievement cemented his status as, not only being better than Ronaldo, but as being the greatest football to ever play the game.
Of course, football is a team sport and Messi certainly had some wonderful players – such as Barcelona icons Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Ronaldinho – to help him along the way to achieving greatness. But when it comes to individual awards, the 37-year-old still comes out on top. He has won the Ballon d’Or – awarded to the best player in the world every season – a record total of eight times, whereas Ronaldo has won the award on five occasions. His longevity is also impressive, winning his first Ballon d’Or in 2009 and his most recent in 2023 (a 14-year gap), while Ronaldo’s first came in 2018 and last came in 2017 ( a nine-year gap).
Messi vs Ronaldo Stats
Argentine has played fewer games but still impresses
Messi vs Ronaldo Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
Stat | Messi | Ronaldo |
Games | 1069 | 1231 |
Goals | 838 | 895 |
Assists | 374 | 252 |
Free-kicks | 65 | 63 |
Penalties | 109 | 164 |
Major Honours | 45 | 35 |
Ballon d’Or | 8 | 5 |
Excluding club friendlies* | ||
Both have had incredible careers and that much is apparent when looking at their simple stats. Ronaldo has actually scored 57 more goals but has played 162 more games and is two years old, so could conceivably be overtaken after retiring. He has also 122 fewer assists than Messi.
When you break down the careers per game, Messi needs 105 minutes to score, while Ronaldo has taken 112. That figure drops to just 72 minutes per goal contribution (a goal or an assist) and to 88 for his Portuguese adversary.
Of course, it’s not just the goals that matter when proving yourself as a great. But being a set-piece specialist is also a great way to display technical ability. And when it comes to free-kicks, Messi also outshines Ronaldo. The Argentine has two more than the former Manchester United man. It’s also interesting to note that the Barcelona icon scores a free kick every 16.4 games, while his rival does so once every 19.5 games.
What’s more, Messi hasn’t had to rely on boosting his goalscoring stats from the penalty spot as frequently either. He has scored 109 times from 12 yards and Ronaldo has bagged 164 career goals from the same situation. In fairness to the 39-year-old, he has a better penalty conversion rate (84.5% vs 77.9%).
Style of Play
“Messi is not human”
Football isn’t all about trophies and goal-scoring statistics though. It is, after all, a game of entertainment. In that sense, Messi has always been able to deliver more. While Ronaldo was a tricky winger in his youth, he soon developed into a lethal penalty-box striker. Sure, he has all the physical attributes to make him so impressive, but Messi is a true artist.
As seen in the stats above, the Argentine can go toe-to-toe with Ronaldo when it comes to pure goalscoring but he completely outshines him when it comes to also being a wonderful creator, linking up with his teammates in the most aesthetically pleasing manner. It speaks to a certain intelligence, vision and grace that Messi possesses on the ball, as if operating on a different plane.
It’s not just viewers who feel this way but teammates too. When a group of 26 footballers, who’d played with both, were asked to choose between the two, Messi was named as the greater player 10 times, compared to five for Ronaldo and 11 who could not decide.
Fernando Gago who played with one at Real Madrid and the other for Argentina, summed it up perfectly, saying:
“For me, he [Ronaldo] is not No.1. For me, the best in the world is Messi because of the way he plays, moves with the ball and changes matches. He is the best I have seen in my life, without a doubt.”
Gerard Pique perhaps had the best way of explaining the difference between to two greats though. Having played with one at Barcelona and the other at Manchester United, he explained Messi’s otherworldly talent, saying:
“For me it’s like Messi is not human but Cristiano is the best of the humans.”
When all is said and done, Ronaldo will be remembered as one of the greatest ever athletes to step foot on the football pitch. Messi, however, will be viewed as some kind of alien – the likes of which has never been seen before and will likely never be seen again.
Stats via MessiVsRonaldo.app (as of 20/07/24).