Messi–Ronaldo Rivalry

They spent nine seasons in the prime of their careers facing off regularly while playing for rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid.

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 79 official trophies (Messi 44, Ronaldo 35) during their senior careers thus far, and have regularly broken the 50-goal barrier in a single season. They are the only two players to score over 800 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, outperforming 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 personality.

After Messi led Argentina to victory in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a number of football critics, commentators and players have opined that Messi has settled the debate between the two players.

Origins

In 2007, Ronaldo and Messi finished as runners-up to AC Milan's Kaká in both the Ballon d'Or, an award rewarded to the player voted as the best in the world by an international panel of sports journalists, and the FIFA World Player of the Year, an award voted for by coaches and captains of international teams. In an interview that year, Messi was quoted as saying that "Cristiano Ronaldo is an extraordinary player and it would be brilliant to be in the same team as him."

They first played in a game against each other when Manchester United were drawn to play Barcelona in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League semi-finals and were immediately pitted as major rivals. Ronaldo missed a penalty in the first leg, but United eventually advanced to the final via a Paul Scholes goal.

The 2009 UEFA Champions League final was contested between Manchester United and Barcelona on 27 May 2009 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. The match, described as a "dream clash", was again hyped as the latest battle between the two, this time to settle who was the best player in the world. Ronaldo explained to always go out on to the field believing he is the best. "For me, you have to have that confidence at all times. That's what makes me the player I am." Messi's club-mate Xavi sided with his fellow Barcelona player: "Messi is the best player in the world by a distance, he's the No1." Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was more diplomatic, praising both players as being amongst the world's elite talents. Barca successfully kept United at arm's length to win 2–0, with Messi scoring a rare header for his team's second goal.

El Clásico

On 11 June 2009, Manchester United accepted an offer of £80 million (€94 million) for Ronaldo to be transferred to Barcelona's El Clásico rivals Real Madrid. The transfer was confirmed on 1 July.

From 2009 to 2018, the two played against each other at least twice per season during El Clásico matches but also met many other times in competitions such as the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España, and a two-legged Champions League semi-final in 2011. This period was the most competitive in El Clásico history, with both players being their clubs' all-time top scorers. The two players alternated as top scorers in La Liga and the Champions League during most seasons while they were with Real Madrid and Barcelona.

2009–10

In the first league meeting between the two players, on 29 November 2009, it was Messi's Barcelona who came out on top, winning 1–0 with a goal from Zlatan Ibrahimović. In the second El Clásico of the season, Messi scored his 40th goal of the season in a 2–0 win. Messi was said to have made a fool out of Ronaldo by the Spanish press, which claimed that Ronaldo's "reign in the football world has ended".

2010–11

On 20 November 2010, the pair both scored hat-tricks on the same day for the first time; Ronaldo hit three goals against Athletic Bilbao in a 5–1 win, while Messi scored three as Barcelona thrashed Almería 8–0. The achievement was said to have proven why they are widely considered "the world's best players".

The two players faced each other whilst representing their international sides for the first time on 9 February 2011, as Argentina played Portugal in a friendly in Geneva, Switzerland, their first meeting for 40 years. Both players were on the scoresheet, with Ronaldo scoring an equaliser before Messi scored an 89th-minute penalty to win the game 2–1.

The two came face-to-face in four pulsating games in the season finale, and the fixtures were hyped as the definitive games as to which of the two was the better player. In the first game of the series on 16 April 2011, Messi scored a 51st-minute penalty to give Barcelona the lead until the 82nd minute, when Ronaldo scored a penalty of his own to give Real Madrid a share of the points. In the second game, the 2011 Copa del Rey Final, Ronaldo scored the only goal of the game in extra time to give Real Madrid a 1–0 win, and the club's first trophy under manager José Mourinho. The third game was the first leg of the Champions League semi-final. The match was ugly and ill-tempered, with Madrid's Pepe sent off and both Madrid's coach José Mourinho and Barcelona's substitute goalkeeper José Manuel Pinto sent to the stands, before Messi provided two moments of magic, including one described as "one of the best goals in Champions League history", to give Barcelona a two-goal lead in the tie. Following the game, Messi was praised as both the current best in the world and amongst the greatest players of all time. Of the seven goals scored in the four games, Messi scored three and Ronaldo scored two.

2011–12

 

On 24 September 2011, both players scored a hat-trick on the same day for the second time; Ronaldo scored three in a 6–2 win against Rayo Vallecano, and Messi scored three in a 5–0 win over Atlético Madrid.

Having been drawn against each other in the Copa Del Rey quarter-finals later in the month, Ronaldo scored a goal in each game, but Barcelona advanced 4–3 on aggregate.

On 21 April 2012, Ronaldo scored the winning goal in El Clásico as Real Madrid won 2–1 and closed in on the league championship.

2012–13

In the first El clásico of the season on 7 October 2012, both players scored twice in a 2–2 at the Camp Nou, the sixth straight match between the two clubs that Ronaldo had scored in. Ronaldo scored in the 23rd minute to put Madrid 1–0 in front, then Messi scored two either side of half-time to put Barcelona in the lead, but for only five minutes before Ronaldo scored a 66th-minute equaliser. Messi finished the calendar year of 2012 with an all-time record of 91 goals for both club and country, overtaking Gerd Müller's record of 85 goals.

At the end of January, the players scored hat-tricks on the same day for the third time; Ronaldo scored three against Getafe as Real Madrid won 4–0 before Messi went one better by scoring four goals against Osasuna as Barcelona won 5–1. It was Ronaldo's 20th hat-trick and Messi's 200th career league goal. In the Copa Del Rey semi-final second leg, Ronaldo scored two goals to help Real Madrid advance to the final in a 3–1 victory. The goals meant he had scored in six consecutive El Clásico's at the Nou Camp.

2013–14

 

In September 2013, the players scored hat-tricks on the same Champions League matchday for the first time; Ronaldo scored three against Galatasaray as Real Madrid won 6–1, while a day later Messi scored a hat-trick against Ajax as Barcelona won 4–0. This latest accomplishment was said to "defy the accepted wisdom that football is a team game".

In the second El Clásico of the season on 23 March 2014, Messi became the all-time top scorer in the fixture after he scored a hat-trick, including two penalty kicks, as Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 4–3, while Ronaldo also scored a goal from the penalty spot which initially put Real Madrid 3–2 in front; it was a match described as "astonishing", "thrilling" and "the best Clasico in recent years".

2014–15

At the start of the season, the race to beat Raúl's Champions League goal scoring record of 71 goals dominated the headlines, with Messi beating Ronaldo to equal the record when he scored against Ajax on 5 November, and beating the record on 25 November with three goals against APOEL in a 4–0 victory. Following this milestone goal, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique claimed Messi was the "greatest player of all time". Ronaldo equalled Raúl's tally on 26 November when he scored the only goal of the game against Basel.

For the second time in the season, the two players faced each other, this time in the shirts of their respective nations at Old Trafford, and was their last meeting before the announcement of the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or. The British press called the match an "international version of the Premier League's 39th game", which claimed that it "offers unique opportunity for a new seam of support to become embroiled in the Ronaldo v Messi arguments". Portugal defeated Argentina 1–0, although neither Ronaldo nor Messi appeared on the score sheet.

On 3 November, in a 4–0 victory over Granada, Ronaldo made league history when he scored his 17th league goal of the season in just 10 games; the record was previously held by Isidro Lángara, who scored 16 goals in the first ten games of the 1935–36 season for Real Oviedo. On 22 November, Messi equalled, and then went past, Telmo Zarra's goalscoring record of 251 when he scored a hat-trick against Sevilla. Luis Enrique praised him following the achievement, saying that he is "one-of-a-kind and we'll never see anyone like him ever again and we are privileged to have him and be able to watch him". On 6 December, Ronaldo overtook Zarra's record of 22 La Liga hat-tricks, which he jointly held with Alfredo Di Stéfano, when he scored three against Celta Vigo. The goals meant he became the quickest player to reach 200 La Liga goals, accomplishing the feat in just 178 games, surpassing Zarra's record of 219 games to reach the milestone. The following day, Messi responded by scoring his third hat-trick in his four games, his 21st La Liga hat-trick in total. The continuous record breaking was said be down to the pairs' "spellbinding skill, relentless application, athletic charisma", while journalist Sid Lowe said that this latest accomplishment "probably doesn't count as a story any more".

On 5 April, Ronaldo scored five times in one game for the first time in his career, including an eight-minute hat-trick, in a 9–1 defeat of Granada in La Liga. He followed this up on 8 April with a goal against Rayo Vallecano in a 2–0 victory; his 300th Real Madrid goal. 10 days later, he became the second player in the history of football to score 50 or more goals in a season on five occasions, when he scored the third goal in a 3–1 victory against Málaga, while earlier in the day, Messi scored his 400th Barcelona goal in a 2–0 win against Valencia.

2015–16

 

On 8 December 2015, Ronaldo set a Champions League record of 11 goals in the group stage after scoring four goals against Malmö. His four-goal haul equalled a club record in the competition, jointly held by Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, and Hugo Sánchez.

On 17 February 2016, Messi scored his 300th La Liga goal in a 1–3 away win against Sporting Gijon. By scoring four goals in a 7–1 home win over Celta Vigo on 5 March, Ronaldo arrived at 252 goals in La Liga to become the competition's second-highest scorer in history behind Messi. Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Wolfsburg to send his club into the Champions League semi-finals despite a 2–0 first-leg defeat. The treble took his tally in the competition to 16 goals, making him the top scorer for the fourth consecutive season and the fifth overall.

Final meetings

Following Ronaldo's transfer to Juventus in the summer of 2018, the two faced each other only one more time in the next four seasons when Ronaldo's two goals from the penalty spot helped Juventus to a 3–0 away win against Messi's Barcelona in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage.

On 21 January 2023, the two played each other for the first time in over two years, as a combined team featuring Al-Hilal and Ronaldo's Al-Nassr was defeated 4–5 by Messi's Paris Saint-Germain in an exhibition friendly in Riyadh. Messi scored once and Ronaldo twice in the game, which was described as potentially being the last-ever match featuring both players.

Leaving Europe and end of rivalry

Both players left the European stage in 2023, with Ronaldo joining Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia while Messi joined Inter Miami CF in the United States. The 2023–24 season was thus the first since 2002 when neither Messi nor Ronaldo played in Europe, and it was seen by many as the end of an era. Both transfers were credited as being crucial in popularizing the sport in the Middle East and North America, and in helping establish them as the two rising powers in football outside of Europe.

In August 2023, both players won their first title with their new teams; Ronaldo helped Al-Nassr win the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup for the first time in their history and was awarded the competition's top scorer award with six goals, while Messi helped Inter Miami win the 2023 Leagues Cup, the first-ever trophy in the club's history, and was awarded the competition's top scorer award with ten goals as well as the competition's best player award. In September 2023, Ronaldo declared that his rivalry with Messi was over and "gone", after 36 official fixtures and 15 years of "sharing the stage".

In a 2016 interview, Ronaldo commented on the rivalry by saying: "I think we push each other sometimes in the competition, this is why the competition is so high." Alex Ferguson, Ronaldo's manager during his time at Manchester United, opined: "I don't think the rivalry against each other bothers them. I think they have their own personal pride in terms of wanting to be the best." Messi has denied any rivalry, and blames the media for creating it, stating that "only the media, the press, who wants us to be at loggerheads but I've never fought with Cristiano."

It is widely argued and documented that there is an atmosphere of competition between the duo, with Guillem Balagué claiming in the book Ronaldo that he refers to his Argentine counterpart as a "motherfucker" behind his back. Ronaldo denied the claims in a post on Facebook and threatened to take legal action over the remarks made by Balagué, writing that he has "the utmost respect for all my professional colleagues, and Messi is obviously no exception." Luca Caioli wrote in his book Ronaldo: The Obsession for Perfection that, according to his sources, Ronaldo heats up when watching Messi play. In response to claims that he and Messi do not get on well on a personal level, Ronaldo commented: "We don't have a relationship outside the world of football, just as we don't with a lot of other players", before adding that in years to come he hopes they can laugh about it together, stating: "We have to look on this rivalry with a positive spirit, because it's a good thing." After Ronaldo's departure from Real Madrid to Juventus, Messi admitted to missing him, saying: "I miss Cristiano. Although it was a bit difficult to see him win trophies, he gave La Liga prestige." During a joint interview at the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award ceremony in 2019, Ronaldo said he would like to "have dinner together in the future", to which Messi later replied: "If I get an invitation, why not?"

Throughout the existence of the rivalry, the pair have dominated awards ceremonies and broken a multitude of goalscoring records for both club and country, feats which have been described as "incredible", "ridiculous" and "remarkable". The rivalry itself has been described as one about records and reputation of the players, rather than one based in loathing.

Messi is the all-time La Liga top scorer, as well as having the most assists in the competition's history – with Ronaldo in second for goals scored and in fourth for assists provided – while Ronaldo is the UEFA Champions League all-time top appearance maker, goalscorer and assist provider, with Messi in third for appearances and in second for both goals scored and assists provided in the competition's history. They are the first two players to score 100 goals in UEFA Champions League history. Ronaldo also holds the records for most international caps and most international goals – with Messi ranked eleventh in appearances and third for goals scored.

The pair dominated the Ballon d'Or/The Best FIFA Men's Player awards since 2008, and UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award since 2014; in 2018, their longer than a decade triumph was interrupted by Luka Modrić, seen as "the end of an era". In an interview for the France Football, Modrić stated that "history will say that a Croatian player, representing his small country, won the Ballon d'Or after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who are players at another level. Nobody has the right to compare themselves to them."

Ronaldo holds the record for most Ballon d'Or nominations with 18 while Messi is the second most-nominated footballer with 16. Messi won four consecutive Ballon d'Or awards (2009 to 2012), with a fifth coming in 2015, while Ronaldo had equalled Messi's total of five with wins in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017. In 2019, Messi took the lead again by earning a record sixth Ballon d'Or, finishing just seven points ahead of second-placed Virgil van Dijk, with Ronaldo finishing third. In 2020, the award was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 and 2023, Messi won his seventh and eighth Ballon d'Or, respectively. In total, Messi and Ronaldo reached the podium a record fourteen and twelve times, respectively. Combining Ballon d'Or, FIFA World Player of the Year and The Best FIFA Men's Player, Messi outperformed Ronaldo 11 to 8 in wins and 23 to 20 in podium finishes. Messi is also the only player in history to win the Ballon d'Or with 3 different clubs (Barcelona, Paris Saint Germain and Inter Miami).

Both Messi and Ronaldo were also nominated a record 11 times for the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award, with Ronaldo outperforming Messi 3 to 2 in wins and 9 to 7 in podium finishes.

The pair's goal-scoring prowess resulted in a number of individual top scorer accolades. Messi won eight Pichichi trophies and six European Golden Shoe awards (2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019). Ronaldo won the European Golden Shoe award on four occasions (2008, 2011, 2014 and 2015) and remains the only footballer with top-flight top scorer awards in England (2008), Spain (2011, 2014 and 2015) and Italy (2021). He was the Champions League top scorer on seven occasions, with Messi achieving this feat six times (including in 2015 when the pair finished joint-top).

Messi has won a world record 44 total official trophies (including a club record 35 major trophies as a Barcelona player), claiming twelve league titles, four Champions Leagues, seven Copa del Rey titles, eight Spanish Super Cups, one French Super Cup, three European Super Cups, three FIFA Club World Cups and one Leagues Cup. Messi was runner-up at three Copa Américas and at the 2014 World Cup, before finally claiming his first major international trophy at the 2021 Copa América, where he was named best player. The following year, Messi led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup trophy, where he won a record second Golden Ball award.

Ronaldo has won 36 official trophies, including seven league titles and five UEFA Champions Leagues, and guided Portugal to UEFA Euro 2016 and 2019 UEFA Nations League titles, the nation's first major trophies. He has won all national top-tier club competitions in England, Spain and Italy, including four national cups, two league cups, and seven national super cups. In addition, he won three European Super Cups, four FIFA Club World Cups, and one Arab Club Champions Cup.

Club statistics

As of 13 April 2024

Notes