It was dubbed the greatest rivalry in the history of sports. It used to be the main reason why people tuned in to watch football for more than 15 years. For millions of kids all over the world, it was the inspiration behind falling in love with the beautiful sport of football. After years and years of going head to head in Barcelona and Real Madrid, chasing records, and winning trophies, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are no longer playing in Europe. It has been a few seasons now that both of them left the strongest footballing continent.
One went west to the USA, the other east to Saudi Arabia. Both of these countries and their respective leagues have high hopes for the future as they attempt to expand the world of football to two more regions of the world. Historically, they have been average at best. Now, with names like Messi in Ronaldo in the squads of Inter Miami and Al Nassr, the stage is set.
This, however, is bittersweet for the fans of traditional football and European rivalries. Is the Messi VS Ronaldo battle over? Is there a clear winner? Could it somehow be reignited? In this article, we attempt to answer the age-old question of who is better across everything related to football and a few things outside of it. And if you still want to follow their endeavors, the best way to do it is through sports betting on Stake.com.
Goals, Assists, Appearances
We start things off with the most important statistics in the game of football, mainly goals scored, goals assisted, and total appearances on the pitch. When it comes to appearances, Ronaldo has played more games than Messi. He currently sits at 1237 games to Messi’s 1069. Ronaldo has scored more goals with 901 and is the only player in the history of the game to score 900. Messi has so far found the back of the net 838 times and counting.
The Argentine striker however has a lot more assists due to his style of play and positioning. To the Portuguese striker’s 254, Messi has 374. When converted to averages, Messi wins this all-time stats battle with 105 minutes per goal to Ronaldo’s 112. Leo also only needs 72 minutes per goal contribution while Cristiano requires 87.
When these stats are broken down, we get a clearer picture of what stage of play suited the players more, or rather, where they found it easier to score. Regarding the all-time international stats, Ronaldo has 132 goals, 36 assists, and 214 games played. Messi has 109 goals, 55 assists, and 187 games played.
It is a well-known fact that the Portugal star has fared better at the UEFA Champions League than the Argentine. However, the actual stats are not that much better. For example, CR7 played 183 games while LM10 played 20 fewer with 163. While the former scored 140, a record, the latter scored 129 which is good for second all-time best. Surprisingly, Ronaldo has 1 more assist, 41 versus 40. But again, when broken down per goal and contribution, Messi needs 105 and 80 minutes while Ronaldo needs 114 and 88.
Here is a quick look at their current detailed stats:
| Messi | Ronaldo | |
|---|---|---|
| Hat Tricks | 57 | 66 |
| Penalties (% of total goals) | 109/140 (13%) | 164/194 (18.2%) |
| Free Kick Goals | 65 | 64 |
| Successful Dribbles | 3812 | 1870 |
| Average Match Rating | 8.42 | 7.78 |
| Man of the Match | 404 | 214 |
| El Clasico Goals + Assists | 40 | 19 |
| Finals Goals + Assists | 50 | 25 |
Individual Awards
What about the individual awards and honors that the two legends won so far in their careers? Both are impressive personal display cases rivaled by none, but who did it better individually? The most prestigious award that a footballer can win is the Ballon d’Or, awarded to the best player of the season. Messi is the clear winner here with 8 over Ronaldo’s 5. From 2008 to 2017, the award was won by either of the two. Ronaldo won his 5 in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017. Messi won his 8 in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Their amazing scoring sprees earned them each a bunch of European Golden Shoe awards. Again, Messi was better with 6 (2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019) while Ronaldo captured 4 (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015). Messi’s highest goalscoring season was 50 goals while Ronaldo’s was 48. In the Champions League, Ronaldo was the Top Scorer 7 times to Messi’s 6. The Pichichi award given to the La Liga Top Scorer was Messi’s to take an incredible 8 times. Ronaldo only won 3. However, he did win the Premier League and Serie A top-scoring titles once.
Team Awards
Overall, it is the former FC Barcelona player who has won more team trophies than the former Real Madrid striker. When it comes to Domestic League titles across all of their clubs, Messi won 12 of them, 10 La Liga titles, and 2 Ligue 1 titles. Ronaldo won 7 total, 3 Premier League, 2 La Liga, and 2 Serie A titles.
The domestic cup battle was much closer with Messi winning 7, all of which are Copa del Reys, to Ronaldo’s total of 6, those being 1 FA Cup, 2 English League Cups, 2 Copa del Reys, and 2 Coppa Italia.
The domestic super cup battle was also close with Leo taking it again. He won 8 Supercopa de Espana and 1 Trophee des Champions for 9 in total. Cristiano won 7 in total, 1 Supercopa de Portugal, 2 Community Shields, 2 Supercopa de Espana, and 2 Supercoppa Italiana.
With club trophies, it is always more impressive when you win European trophies than domestic ones, however. And on the European stage, Ronaldo was slightly better. He won 5 Champion League trophies, 1 with Manchester United in 2008 and 4 with Real Madrid, first in 2014 and then the legendary three-peat between 2016 and 2018. Messi won 4 with Barcelona, in 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2015. These seasons used to be amazing for fans and bettors who would flock to internet platforms for their online sports betting needs.
Winning the UCL opens the doors to 2 more trophies. Firstly, there is the UEFA Super Cup. Each player won it 3 times for their respective La Liga sides. Real Madrid were absolute champions of Europe in 2014, 2016, and 2017 with Ronaldo while Messi led Barcelona to titles in 2009, 2011, and 2015. In those same years, they also won the Club World Cup, but Ronaldo has 1 more from 2008 with Man Utd to take it with 4 over 3.
Of course, it would not be them if they did not take their rivalry outside of Europe. In 2023, each won a cup in their new team. With Inter Miami in the USA, Messi won the Leagues Cup. With Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo won the Arab Club Champions Cup.
International Stage
At a certain point in their legendary careers, neither of them managed to win any of the biggest trophies. There was a certain drought for both the Argentina and Portugal national teams. Of course, for a legend to cement their status in a sport, they need to achieve great success and major trophies both on the club and international level. Lucky for both of them, that drought slowly faded away as they started to win major hardware in the back end of their careers. All in all, Messi has a 6-4 finals record while Ronaldo has a 2-1.
Messi has won the 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup, a sneak peek for what is to come. In 2007, he won silver at the Copa America. Then in 2008, he followed it up with a U23 Olympic Gold. However, these two titles are often forgotten by the fans and are not always credited as big. Of course, they do matter especially now when you look back on his entire career. It would be more than a decade before Messi started winning bigger trophies as a senior. At the 2014 World Cup, he won silver after a devastating loss to Germany. Three more disappointments followed. Messi lost the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals, and won bronze at the 2019 Copa America.
Then, the luck of Argentina turned for the better and they won 4 trophies in 3 years. First came the 2021 Copa America title, followed by the 2022 Finalissima. That same year at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Messi won his first World Cup. This year, 2024, he won his second Copa America and will get the chance for his second Finalissima in 2025. So the grand total of his medals is 6 golds, 4 silvers, and 1 bronze.
On the other hand, Ronaldo had less success in terms of numbers. He also saw all three medals and had disappointments as well as amazing performances. Still, he will end up behind Messi. In 2004, he won silver at the UEFA Euros in his home of Portugal after a devastating loss in the final, followed by a bronze in 2012. Finally, he won the Euros in 2016, his first Portugal gold. Then came another bronze at the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017. His final trophy, so far, was the 2019 UEFA Nations League. The total comes down to 2 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals.
On the international individual stage, both have won major hardware. Messi has 2 FIFA World Cup Golden Balls (2014, 2022) and 1 FIFA World Cup Silver Boot (2022). Ronaldo had much less success at the World Cup. However, he does have a UEFA Euros Golden Boot from 2021. In the appropriate continental competition for Messi, Copa America, he left his mark considerably. He won 2 Golden Balls (2015, 2021) and 1 Golden Boot (2021).
Records and Achievements
There are certain things that the players cannot share because they qualify as records, meaning only one of them can hold it. Then there are potential feats and achievements that both could have won but only one managed to do so. For example, Messi won 3 continental trebles, a great honor for any European football club player where they win 3 major trophies in a season. With FC Barcelona, he did it twice in 2009 and 2015.
In 2009, it was a sextuple since Messi helped Barca win an incredible 6 trophies in a year: La Liga, Copa del Rey, Supercopa de Espana, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. Ronaldo never won a treble, let alone a sextuple.
Let us now see the most impressive records held by each:
Messi’s Records:
- Most Ballon d’Or awards -
- Most European Golden Shoes - 6
- Most trophies by a Barcelona player - 35
- Most official team trophies won - 45
- Most official goals in a calendar year - 91 (2012)
- Most hat-tricks in UEFA Champions League - 8 (Shares with Ronaldo)
- Most goals for a single club - 672 for Barcelona
- Most El Clasico goals - 26
- Most appearances for Barcelona - 778
- Most assists for Barcelona - 303
- Most appearances and minutes at the World Cup - 26 and 2314
- Argentina most goals, assists, and caps - 109, 55, 187
Ronaldo’s Records:
- Most goals all time - 901
- Most international goals - 132
- Most UEFA Champions League goals - 140
- Most hat-tricks in UEFA Champions League - 8 (Shares with Messi)
- Most goals in a single UEFA Champions League season - 17
- One of 4 players to score in every minute - 1 to 90
- Most goals all-time in club football - 769
- Most wins in Top 5 Leagues - 426
- Only player to score in 22 consecutive seasons
- Most Caps in international football - 214
- Most Ballon d’Or nominations - 18
- Most UEFA Best Player awards - 4
- Most goals and assists in UEFA Euros - 14 and 7
- The only player to appear in 6 Euros - 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021)
The Final Verdict
Statistically, it is Lionel Messi who wins it due to the higher number of trophies, both for club and country, both individual and team. Football is the game of trophies so he wins overall due to being more successful on average. Also, he takes less time to impact the game and has all of these achievements in fewer games played. Ronaldo is a better goal scorer, but Messi is better at assisting a better technician and dribbler, and a better team player. For most fans, it was the World Cup title that helped Messi take the all-time debate, and we tend to agree. Whatever they do until the end of their careers is unassuming because the leagues where they play now are incomparable to what the fans are used to.