Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi: Who is the best? What the stats say about the two players

or ? The eternal question debated in school playgrounds, living rooms, pubs and workplaces in every corner of the globe.

Both legends have had illustrious careers in the game and both will rightly take their place in the pantheon of true greats.

And while cold, hard statistics will never be able to definitively provide an answer as to than the other – football is an inherently emotional sport after all – they can certainly help to sway the debate one way or another.

Let’s take a deep dive into the numbers to see which player the record books favour.

Goals

Ronaldo: 832, Messi: 800

Ronaldo boasts more goals than Messi in all competitions for both club and country, with the 38 year-old the .

However, Messi is hot on his heels in third place on the all-time list and he notched his 800th goal against on March 23.

Messi’s most productive season in front of goal was the incredible 73 he hit for Barcelona in 2011/12 – the most scored by any player in a single season in history.

Ronaldo’s best tally for a solo campaign, on the other hand, is the 61 goals he scored for in 2014/15 which was part of the six consecutive seasons where he scored at least 50 goals a term for the Spanish giants.

The PSG forward has scored at least 30 goals in club football in 13 different seasons compared to Ronaldo with 12.

Of Ronaldo’s 832 goals, – an all-time record for the most goals scored in international history.

Messi, meanwhile, is agonsingly close to his century of international goals for Argentina with 99.

Whilst Ronaldo may have found the back of the net more times throughout his career, it is also true that the Portuguese player has played for two more seasons than the 35 year-old, and so when adjusted for goals per season, Messi actually comes out on top (37.9 to 35).

Ronaldo occupies the summit for the most hat-tricks ever with 62, six ahead of Messi in second place with 56.

Assists

Ronaldo: 236, Messi: 353

The diminutive Argentine holds the edge over Ronaldo with the most goals created across all competitions throughout their respective careers.

The most Ronaldo has managed in a single season of club football was 21 in 2014/15 for Los Blancos, whilst Messi’s most creative season was in 2011/12 with an incredible 30 assists put on for his teammates.

Messi has provided at least 20 assists during a season on five different occasions, whilst his arch rival has only done so once.

Champions League stats

Ronaldo: 140 goals in 183 appearances, Messi: 129 goals in 163 appearances

The former player is superior in the with 11 more goals to his name than Messi, making them both the highest goalscorers in the history of the competition.

Ronaldo has also won more Champions League titles, too, with five collected across his spells at Old Trafford and the Bernabeu.

Messi has one less title with four, and he has not laid his hands on the iconic trophy since beating Juventus in the 2015 final with Barca.

But with Ronaldo now , Messi has a golden opportunity to at least match Ronaldo’s record – assuming he stays in Europe that is.

World Cup stats

Ronaldo: Eight goals in 22 appearances, Messi: 13 goals in 26 appearances

There is no doubt who has the bragging rights when it comes to the World Cup.

Messi title to his trophy cabinet at the World Cup in Qatar last year, guiding the South Americans to their third triumph on the global stage.

Messi scored seven goals in the Middle East – only failing to score in the final group game against Poland – as well as bagging two in the final.

His displays in Qatar earnt him the Golden Ball award as the best player at the tournament, the second time he has been bestowed the award having also picked up the prize at the World Cup in 2014.

Ronaldo could only manage one goal for Portugal in the 2022 edition, although his strike against Ghana in the opening game saw him become the only man in history to .

Titles

Both players have envious trophy cabinets amassed from their time at the elite end of the sport.

Messi’s trophy haul is bigger, however, with 40 titles collected from his spells with Barcelona, PSG and Argentina.

Messi’s collection obviously includes the World Cup as its crowning centrepiece – a glaring omission from Ronaldo’s – whilst he also won a gold medal with the Argentina U23 side at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The two legends have both enjoyed continental success with their countries, with Ronaldo winning Euro 2016 and Messi the Copa America in 2021.

Ronaldo has won league titles in England, Spain and Italy, whilst Messi has picked up medals in Spain and France.

Individual trophies

As if the pair’s trophy cabinets weren’t bulging enough with all those team titles, both collections have been complimented with a vast array of individual awards.

The Ballon d’Or, regarded as the most prestigious of them all, has been .

His most recent Ballon d’Or arrived in 2021, whilst the last of Ronaldo’s five came in 2017.

Ronaldo edges the rivalry with two The Best FIFA awards compared to Messi’s one, but the South American has been the highest scorer in European club football more often with six European Golden Shoes compared to Ronaldo’s four.

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