The 2022 World Cup in Qatar was novel in many ways, being the first time it was being hosted in the Middle East with the traditional restrictions alien to fans of the Mundial. Though many European and America stakeholders had expressed their reservations about the restrictions that fans and other visitors to the world cup would endure, the budget of the hosts for the tournament seemed irresistible. New and state-of-the art air-conditioned stadiums, the offshore hotels, and the conviviality of the hosts lightened up the mood during the tournament.
But one climax that the Mundial may have settled for last and final time, is the rivalry between the two greatest footballers of the 21st century, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Lionel Messi of Argentina. Winning the World Cup meant everything to both of them because not only would Qatar be their last World Cup, but much more because the one of them that or whose team performed better would likely emerge the Greatest of All Times (G.O.A.T.) in football.
Somehow Portugal, Ronaldo’s country, dropped out of the World Cup at the quarterfinal. Argentina, Messi’s country moved up to the Semifinal and looked set as favourites, being the most seeded country left at that level. While Messi had remained cool-headed in the tournaments, Ronaldo had thrown tantrums which led to his being benched in Portugal’s second round match against Switzerland before the country lost to Morocco in the quarterfinal.
The Rivalry
The Messi–Ronaldo rivalry, or Ronaldo–Messi rivalry, is a sporting rivalry in football encouraged by the media and fans that involves Argentine footballer Lionel Messi and Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, mainly for being contemporaries and for their similar records and sporting success.
Together they have achieved various historical milestones in the sport, coming to be considered as two of the best players of all time. They are two of the most decorated footballers ever, having won a combined 71 major trophies (Messi 37, Ronaldo 34) during their senior careers thus far, and have regularly broken the 50-goal barrier in a single season. They are among the eight players to score over 700 goals each in their careers for club and country. Ronaldo holds the record for most official goals in a career.
Journalists and pundits regularly argue the individual merits of both players in an attempt to establish who they believe is the best player in modern football or ever. Regardless of preference, football critics generally agree that they are both the best players of their generation, outnumbering their peers by a significant margin.
Ronaldo has received praise for his physical attributes, goalscoring skills, leadership and performance under pressure, while Messi is lauded for his combination of dribbling, playmaking, passing and goalscoring.
It has been compared to past global sports rivalries such as the Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier rivalry in boxing, the Prost–Senna rivalry in motorsport, and the tennis rivalries between Federer–Nadal and Borg–McEnroe.
Some commentators choose to analyse the differing physiques and playing styles of the two, while part of the debate revolves around the contrasting personalities of the two players; Ronaldo is sometimes described as someone of temperamental character while Messi is considered to have a more reserved character.
Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro born 5 February 1985 is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d’Or awards and four European Golden Shoes, the most by a European player. He has won 32 trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, and the UEFA European Championship. Ronaldo holds the records for most appearances (183), goals (140), and assists (42) in the Champions League, goals in the European Championship (14), international goals (118), and joint-most international appearances (196). He is one of the few players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances, and has scored over 800 official senior career goals for club and country. He is the only male player to score in five World Cup tournaments.
Ronaldo began his senior career with Sporting CP, before signing with Manchester United in 2003, at age 18, winning the FA Cup in his first season. He would also go on to win three consecutive Premier League titles, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup; at age 23, he won his first Ballon d’Or. Ronaldo was the subject of the then-most expensive association football transfer when he signed for Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer worth €94 million (£80 million), where he won 15 trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, and four Champions Leagues, and became the club’s all-time top goalscorer. He won back-to-back Ballons d’Or in 2013 and 2014, and again in 2016 and 2017, and was runner-up three times behind Lionel Messi, his perceived career rival. In 2018, he signed for Juventus in a transfer worth an initial €100 million (£88 million), the most expensive transfer for an Italian club and for a player over 30 years old. He won two Serie A titles, two Supercoppa Italiana trophies and a Coppa Italia, before returning to United in 2021. He left in 2022.
Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal in 2003 at the age of 18 and has since earned over 190 caps, making him Portugal’s most-capped player. With more than 100 goals at international level, he is also the nation’s all-time top goalscorer. Ronaldo has played in and scored at 11 major tournaments; he scored his first international goal at Euro 2004, where he helped Portugal reach the final. He assumed captaincy of the national team in July 2008. In 2015, Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation. The following year, he led Portugal to their first major tournament title at Euro 2016, and received the Silver Boot as the second-highest goalscorer of the tournament. He also led them to victory in the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2019, receiving the top scorer award in the finals, and later received the Golden Boot as top scorer of Euro 2020.
One of the world’s most marketable and famous athletes, Ronaldo was ranked the world’s highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2016 and 2017 and the world’s most famous athlete by ESPN from 2016 to 2019. Time included him on their list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014. He is the first footballer and the third sportsman to earn US$1 billion in his career.
Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi born 24 June 1987, also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards,[note 2] a record six European Golden Shoes, and in 2020 was named to the Ballon d’Or Dream Team. Until leaving the club in 2021, he had spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club-record 35 trophies, including 10 La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles and four UEFA Champions Leagues. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), most goals in a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists in La Liga (192), a La Liga season (21) and the Copa América (17). He also holds the record for most international goals by a South American male (95). Messi has scored over 750 senior career goals for club and country, and has the most goals by a player for a single club (672).
Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi relocated to Spain at the age of 13 to join Barcelona, for whom he made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. He established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, and in his first uninterrupted season in 2008–09 he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football; that year, aged 22, Messi won his first Ballon d’Or. Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning four consecutive Ballons d’Or, making him the first player to win the award four times. During the 2011–12 season, he set the La Liga and European records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as Barcelona’s all-time top scorer. The following two seasons, Messi finished second for the Ballon d’Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo (his perceived career rival), before regaining his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, becoming the all-time top scorer in La Liga and leading Barcelona to a historic second treble, after which he was awarded a fifth Ballon d’Or in 2015. Messi assumed captaincy of Barcelona in 2018, and in 2019 he won a record sixth Ballon d’Or. Out of contract, he signed for Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021.
An Argentine international, Messi holds the national record for appearances and is also the country’s all-time leading goalscorer. At youth level, he won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, finishing the tournament with both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. His style of play as a diminutive, left-footed dribbler drew comparisons with his compatriot Diego Maradona, who described Messi as his successor. After his senior debut in August 2005, Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a FIFA World Cup in 2006, and reached the final of the 2007 Copa América, where he was named young player of the tournament. As the squad’s captain from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2014 FIFA World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, and the 2015 and 2016 Copa América, winning the Golden Ball in the 2015 edition. After announcing his international retirement in 2016, he reversed his decision and led his country to qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, a third-place finish at the 2019 Copa América, and won the 2021 Copa América, while winning the Golden Ball and Golden Boot award for the latter. This achievement would see him receive a record seventh Ballon d’Or in 2021.
Messi has endorsed sportswear company Adidas since 2006. According to France Football, he was the world’s highest-paid footballer for five years out of six between 2009 and 2014, and was ranked the world’s highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2019 and 2022. Messi was among Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2011 and 2012. In February 2020, he was awarded the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, thus becoming the first footballer and the first team sport athlete to win the award. Later that year, Messi became the second footballer and second team-sport athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings.
