The argument of Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo will rumble on long after both men retire.
Both players have been playing at their own level over the past decade and no one else has come close to matching their achievements.
Messi has dominated domestically with Barcelona, winning 10 La Liga titles since making his debut, as well as six Copa del Rey trophies.
Ronaldo has made his claim to the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time) crown by proving his dominance in the Champions League.
He has five European Cups to his name, yet only two La Liga titles - but those are complemented by three Premier League's and most recently, a Serie A title.
Both men also have five Ballon d'Or wins, proving once again that they are well matched against each other and miles ahead of anybody else.
But on the international stage, there seems to be a real gulf in class between the pair.
Ronaldo has found a fair amount of success with Portugal, winning Euro 2016 and the Nations League, while Messi has never won a major international trophy with Argentina.
The Portuguese captain has also scored far more international goals, 88, than his rival, who has 67.
Fans of Ronaldo will suggest that he's the better player due to his superiority on the international stage. But a comparison of the two might not be very fair.
If we look at the teams both players have scored against, it seems Messi comes up against much tougher opposition.
56 of his 67 international strikes (84%) have been against FIFA's top 50 ranked nations, while Ronaldo has only scored 35 of his 88 goals (35%) against teams inside the top 50.
Based on these stats alone, Messi fans can claim their man is more effective against tougher opposition - but Ronaldo fans will suggest that he scores most of his goals in friendlies.
Their records against top 50 ranked sides just adds another layer to the on-going debate of Messi vs Ronaldo, which will no doubt continue to rage on for many more years.
heartridoy143
625
2 G.O.A.T. in one picture ๐
MridulPandey
398
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more that twice the goals in competitive games for country than Lionel Messi.๐ฅ๐ฅ Is there even any competition?๐๐
denkmsuyz
230
you are the one obsessed with the comparison. to me and others, it is a settled matter that Messi is in a class of his own. if Ronaldo has been trying to come up to him, it is his effort to make. football is not all a bout scoring goals and when we also reduce talent to belonging to teams that win laurels, we tend to miss the point. yes good players contribute to the success of teams but what about teams that refuse to come the party for reasons best known to them or teams that do not have the necessary balance to achieve success. we must continue to emphasizeโ that football is a team sport and must not necessarily be the basis to judge the ability of individuals. Messi is a superior player to the one that tries the catch up game.
Yiwitz
183
Messi six golden balls Ronaldo four...messi olympic gold medal and under 20 cup...world cup final and beat player...Ronald has nothing at a world level...Pre quarter the farthest he has gone in a world cup
Kayceotuz
164
cr7 is a striker....Messi is not a striker thts where everyone keep making same mistake .........if u all r gonna compare them both ....then its only fair to talk abt goals assisted/created which is as good as a goal........so then who is the better all round player. Ronaldo's job is purely to score goals.... Messi's job is both to score and to assist..........in order for a team to strive u need more than 1 leader...(.not captain mind u.)..leaders......... Argentina has only 1 leader......best player in z world but he is still only human.......marodana is mayb z only player I can recall who has single handedly won a WC....and even he still had support
Evans0323
142
Trophies win since his debut match a player compare to clubs trophies all this while
hiaabelnoy
82
the Argentine coach is so so dump, he doesn't deserve to be their coach. Imagine you have players like aguero, di maria, dybala, to play your attacks but instead you use some half breed players on the mid field and attack, those who lack experience and you expect Leo to be extremely effective? he made that mistake in the world cup always bringing in good players in the last minutes against Colombia messi was the only one in the attack area....the mid field isn't moving they all stood there all burden was on messi just compare that to the Barcelona squad style of play, the Argentine team lacks motivation
tetclms
72
All the statistics favor CR7 considering who is the Goat. scoring more goals against Fifa top 50 teams in friendly matches is not competitive ie no serious trophies aworded for those friendly matches. The GOAT means he who conqour almost every thing in football eg world cup, clubs wc , super cups, UCL, euro/copper America/afcon/Asian cup and won major awords such as ballond'or, Fifa player,BBC player, CL player, continental player of the year and any other relevant and competitive trophies and personal awards. To be the GOAT is not being a champion domestically only in one country or one club.Fact and figures don't lies and they are not baias.
Piccorst
45
football is all about tactics. ...dribbling. ...making chances or assisting for the team ..... it's not Oly about scoring goals. ....scoring goal comes second. ...the first is a perfect assist. ...if there is no assist then how could a player score. .... so when Ronaldo score remember there is someone who assist him to the goal.... bt incase of Messi he make an assist as well as score too. Goal scoring machine remain off until someone or an operator turn on the machine bt for Messi he is the GOAT of his own ONE MAN CLUB wherever he played. ..... Berca or Argentina. ....nothing details more to disclose its just the beginning n closing of the history. ..present n future. ..
musbimrsy
44
What about Ronaldo scoring less friendly goals and skipping most of the friendly games.The man just scored 3 goals in 2 games for Portugal
RaNuCR77
17
Messi six golden balls Ronaldo four...messi olympic gold medal and under 20 cup...world cup final and beat player...Ronald has nothing at a world level...Pre quarter the farthest he has gone in a world cup
Try not to cry[Crylaugh] International Trophy: CR7 2-0 messi Retirements CR7 0-2 messi
anmol987
13
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more that twice the goals in competitive games for country than Lionel Messi.๐ฅ๐ฅ Is there even any competition?๐๐
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messi friendly is more difficult than ronaldos competitive matches
Cj_Spenza_Prolific
12
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more that twice the goals in competitive games for country than Lionel Messi.๐ฅ๐ฅ Is there even any competition?๐๐
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competitive goals against weak countries above those ranked top 50 ๐๐๐ Faroe Islands,,, rwabbish cabbage ๐ฎ
Emino442
12
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more that twice the goals in competitive games for country than Lionel Messi.๐ฅ๐ฅ Is there even any competition?๐๐
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I guess they counted Nations league also. the most useless tournament in the world
lumaceiotz
11
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more that twice the goals in competitive games for country than Lionel Messi.๐ฅ๐ฅ Is there even any competition?๐๐
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It's actually kinda unfair because Ronaldo can play in more competitive international games like euro qualifiers, world cup qualifiers, nations league, euro+ world cup and confederations cup. as for messi, he only plays in World cup qualifiers, copa america and the world cup so it's obvious that Ronaldo will score more goals than messi in competitive games. I'm not being biased or jealous but it's the truth.
MridulPandey
10
messi friendly is more difficult than ronaldos competitive matches
Messi scored 32 goals in friendlies but what did he earn through it. While Ronaldo's goals in competitive games have earned his team qualification in all major international tournaments since his debut and before his debut Portugal sometimes even failed to qualify for major tournaments
Rucmnrsz
8
Messi six golden balls Ronaldo four...messi olympic gold medal and under 20 cup...world cup final and beat player...Ronald has nothing at a world level...Pre quarter the farthest he has gone in a world cup
When Messi was playing U-20, Ronaldo was already in the senior team at 17,so he didn't play U-20.
Dowablrtyz
8
cr7 is a striker....Messi is not a striker thts where everyone keep making same mistake .........if u all r gonna compare them both ....then its only fair to talk abt goals assisted/created which is as good as a goal........so then who is the better all round player. Ronaldo's job is purely to score goals.... Messi's job is both to score and to assist..........in order for a team to strive u need more than 1 leader...(.not captain mind u.)..leaders......... Argentina has only 1 leader......best player in z world but he is still only human.......marodana is mayb z only player I can recall who has single handedly won a WC....and even he still had support
ronaldo is actually a winger and prefers playing on the wing.. messi has played as a cf more than ronaldo has