Cristiano Ronaldo has recently celebrated his 40th birthday and whilst he is still going strong at Al Nassr, retirement is inevitably not far away for one of the greatest footballers of all time. But, just how does CR7 measure up against some of football’s all-time greats? Here we look back at more than two decades of football at the highest level, comparing the career of Cristiano Ronaldo to some of his rivals for the title of “Greatest Of All Time”.
Messi vs Ronaldo
The obvious place to start is a comparison with Ronaldo’s old adversary Lionel Messi. A rivalry that has spanned a generation, Messi and Ronaldo are undoubtedly the best two players of the 21st century but who is/was the best? The career statistics for both Messi and Ronaldo are simply staggering, Lionel Messi has scored 738 club goals during spells at Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami whilst Cristiano Ronaldo has amassed 788 club goals for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and Al Nassr.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still banging in the goals at Al Nassr as he closes in on the coveted ‘1000 career goals’ milestone. Ronaldo has 15 goals in 17 Saudi Pro League games this season and according to odds from the best betting sites in India, Ronaldo is on course to earn a second successive Saudi Pro League Top Goalscorer award.
During their peak years Messi and Ronaldo were on either side of a fierce Barcelona vs Real Madrid rivalry. Whilst Ronaldo won a modest two La Liga titles during his time in Madrid, Messi amassed 10 La Liga titles at Barcelona. During their respective spells in Spain, Messi and Ronaldo also won four Champions League titles apiece. However, Cristiano Ronaldo was also a Champions League winner at Manchester United in 2007/08 and won five league titles in England and Italy with Manchester United and Juventus respectively.
International Success
Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have certainly delivered on the international stage and are currently the two highest goalscorers in international football history. Ronaldo has scored 135 goals in 217 matches for Portugal, captaining his nation to glory in both the European Championships (2016) and UEFA Nations League (2018/19). Messi is a two-time Copa America winner with Argentina but the highlight of his international career was undoubtedly Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup win.
Ballon d’Or
The Ballon d’Or is considered the highest individual accolade in world football, crowning the world’s best footballer at the end of each calendar year. In 2008 Cristiano Ronaldo became the first Manchester United player since 1968 to win the award before going on to win the Ballon d’Or four more times during his time at Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo’s haul of five Ballon d’Or awards is second only to the seven wins achieved by Lionel Messi. Messi won the Ballon d’Or six times whilst at Barcelona with a seventh award earned in 2023 whilst at Paris Saint-Germain, thanks in no small part to Argentina’s FIFA World Cup triumph.
GOAT Consideration
Whilst Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are undoubtedly the greatest players of their generation, there are a number of other former players who could lay claim to the title of ‘Greatest Of All Time’. Lionel Messi was not the first Argentina-born superstar to arrive in Spain and become the world’s best player. Alfredo Di Stefano won five consecutive European Cups at Real Madrid, scoring in all five finals between 1956 and 1960. Di Stefano’s haul of 308 goals in 396 matches for Real Madrid stood as a club record until Raul surpassed the mark in 2008/09. Di Stefano is widely considered as one of the best players of all time but his struggles for various reasons to really make an impact on the international stage probably leaves him just below the legitimate GOAT candidates. The same probably applies to three-time Ballon d’Or winner and 1974 FIFA World Cup runner-up Johan Cruyff.
The two obvious candidates to rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the title of Greatest Of All Time are Pele and Diego Maradona. Pele is the only player to have won three FIFA World Cups whilst his achievements as a 17-year-old in 1958 sees Pele hold the record as the youngest ever World Cup winner. Pele was hugely prolific at both club and international level but the one question mark over a hugely successful career is around the fact that the Santos, New York Cosmos and Brazil legend never played in Europe.
Diego Maradona did conquer Europe as he guided unfashionable Napoli to a first ever Serie A title in 1986/87. Maradona twice shattered the world record transfer fee during the 1980’s as he made moves from Boca Juniors to Barcelona then on to Napoli. It is suggested by many that Maradona won the 1986 FIFA World Cup single-handedly, scoring or assisting 10 of Argentina’s 14 goals including the infamous ‘Hand of God’ and the equally memorable ‘Goal of the Century’ in a thrilling quarter-final win over England. Maradona’s off-field issues and subsequent drug controversies tainted the career of one of the most naturally talented players to ever grace a football pitch.
Conclusion
The age-old GOAT debate is certainly a generational thing with fans of a certain age unmoved on their opinions that Pele or Diego Maradona are the greatest footballers of all-time. However, the statistics do not lie, both Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have to come into this conversation. Just who is the best is down to personal preference. Cristiano Ronaldo recently claimed that he believes he is "The most complete player to have existed” but Messi’s World Cup win and phenomenal record of seven Ballon d’Or awards potentially tips the scales in the Argentine’s favour.