A group of former footballers once voted on who had the superior career between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, resulting in a surprising outcome.
Ronaldo and Messi are widely regarded as the two greatest players to have ever played the game, elevating standards with their extraordinary accomplishments for both club and country.
Over more than a decade, the duo has amassed 15 Ballon d’Or awards between them and set numerous impressive records that might never be surpassed. ..Continue Reading
They clashed at the height of the El Clasico rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona, and both are now enjoying their final playing years outside of Europe in Saudi Arabia and the United States.
In Europe, Messi spent most of his career dominating with Barcelona before playing two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain, adding two more league titles to his collection.
On the international stage, Messi has won the Copa America twice and led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Ronaldo has secured league titles in three different countries, and although he hasn’t won the World Cup, he achieved international success with Portugal by winning Euro 2016 in France.
While the debate about who is the greatest is ongoing, a poll conducted by The Athletic saw ex-players siding with Ronaldo.
In a 2023 survey covering various topics, one of the 35 questions asked, “Who has had the better career, Messi or Ronaldo?”
66 percent voted for Manchester United and Real Madrid legend Ronaldo, compared to 34 percent for Messi.
However, when asked which player they would have preferred to play alongside, Messi won by a large margin of 72 percent to 28 percent.
In a recent interview with El Chiringuito marking his 40th birthday, Ronaldo once again declared himself the greatest, claiming to be “the most complete player to have existed” and pointing to his statistics to support his assertion.
But, Messi’s long-time teammate Javier Mascherano, now his manager at Inter Miami, had an honest response to his comments.
“Cristiano saying he is the most complete and the greatest player in history? I have a lot of respect for Cristiano and I do not have the need to analyse his opinions. It’s what he thinks,” Mascherano said.
“I have my own thoughts and it isn’t that.”
