Cristiano Ronaldo & Messi football era comes to an end

Cristiano Ronaldo – Lionel Messi is, for sure, the most consistent rivalry in the history of world football in terms of statistics especially. I am mentioning this, because is quite hard to avoid Eras in which Maradona & Platini were playing, when Di Stefano & Puskas were on the same pitch, when Zidane & Ronaldo & Figo show us greatness. None of those, though, persisted almost two decades as these mighty athletes. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are still writing history, but their era is close to an end. Because of this, since we are preparing for the World Cup 2022 in Qatar, were it will be their last major dance, I will lead this comparison both based on their numbers, which are outstanding, unique, most likely unbeatable and also among their big things that they never achieved or they achieved much less than great football greats in the history, who didn’t play for so long at such a great level.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s numbers & trophies

Speaking about numbers, digits, distinctions, I will start to present those of Cristiano Ronaldo, not because he is better, but because he started to shine before Lionel Messi, as he is two and a half years older. So, please consider the full list of Cristiano Ronaldo’s achievements as off 9th of April 2022. Both individual and with the teams for which he played at.

Total club matches played / goals scored (including Sporting Lisbon B): 929 / 692 (ratio: 0.74 goals / match)
- Sporting Lisbon: 33 / 5 (0.15 goals / match)
  - League: 27 / 3
  - National Cup: 3 / 2
  - European competitions: 3 / 0
- Manchester United: 324 / 136 (0.42 goals / match)
  - League: 220 / 96 (0.44 goals / match)
  - National Cups & Super Cup: 40 / 17 (0.43 goals / match)
  - European competitions (including FIFA World Clubs & Intercontinental Cup): 64 / 23 (0.36 goals / match)
- Real Madrid: 438 / 450 (1.03 goals / match)
  - League: 292 / 311 (1.07 goals / match)
  - National Cup & Super Cup: 37 / 26 (0.70 goals / match)
  - European competitions (including FIFA World & Intercontinental Cup): 109 / 113 (1.04 goals / match)
- Juventus Torino: 134 / 101 (0.75 goals / match)
  - League: 98 / 81 (0.83 goals / match)
  - National Cup & Super Cup: 13 / 6 (0.46 goals / match)
  - European competitions (including FIFA World & Intercontinental Cup): 23 / 14 (0.61 goals / match)
Total national team matches played / goals scored for Portugal: 186 / 115 (0.62 goals / match)
- World Cup: 17 / 7 (0.42 goals / match) –> 2006 (1 goal), 2010 (1), 2014 (1), 2018 (4)
  - no goals scored above the group stage
- EURO: 25 / 14 (0.56 goals / match) –> 2004 (2 goals), 2008 (1), 2012 (3), 2016 (3), 2020/2021 (5)
  - only one goal scored outside the group stage: in 2016, against Wales, in the Semifinals
- World Cup Qualification: 47 / 36 (0.77 goals / match)
- EURO Qualifiers: 35 / 31 (0.89 goals / match)
- UEFA Nations League: 6 / 5 (0.83 goals / match)
- FIFA Confederations Cup: 4 / 2 (0.5 goals / match)
- Friendly matches: 52 / 20 (0.38 goals / match)
Trophy case of Cristiano Ronaldo:
- Club trophies: 30
  - Sporting Lisbon – 1: Portuguese Super Cup (2002);
  - Manchester United – 9:
    - Premier League (2007, 2008, 2009)
    - FA Cup (2004)
    - League Cup (2006, 2009)
    - Community Shield (2007)
    - UEFA Champions League (2008)
    - European Super Cup (2008)
  - Real Madrid – 15:
    - La Liga (2012, 2017)
    - Copa del Rey (2011, 2014)
    - Spain Super Cup (2012, 2017)
    - UEFA Champions League (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018)
    - European Super Cup (2014, 2017)
    - FIFA World Club Cup (2014, 2016, 2017)
  - Juventus Torino – 5:
    - Serie A (2019, 2020)
    - Copa Italia (2021)
    - Italian Super Cup (2018, 2020)
- National Team, Portugal, trophies: 2
  - EURO 2016
  - UEFA Nations League 2019
- Individual Major trophies: 29
  - Ballon D’or: 5 (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
  - European Golden Shoe: 4 (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015)
  - Portuguese Player of the year: 10 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
  - Premier League Player of the season: 2 (2007, 2008)
  - Premier League Golden Boot: 1 (2008)
  - La Liga Best Player: 1 (2014)
  - La Liga Top Scorer: 3 (2011, 2014, 2015)
  - Serie A Best Player: 2 (2019, 2020)
  - Serie A Top Scorer: 1 (2021)

https://youtu.be/OoCa55r30ZA

Cristiano Ronaldo’s numbers are great, but he didn’t perform with Portugal

If the numbers above are good, there is no question about that. In fact, they are not good, but extraordinary, no football player can, at this point, approach them. Especially that Cristiano Ronaldo will continue to play and score for some time. Mbappe or Haaland are coming from behind, but they need to keep the pace a long time. But, the numbers, as you can see might be, in some aspects diluted as at the big tournaments, alongside his team, Portugal, he didn’t shine, even though they won the EURO trophy in 2016 – in the final, though, Cristiano Ronaldo played only a couple of minutes, being seriously knee-injured by Payet. Cristiano Ronaldo scored only once (!!!) at a World Cup / European Championship outside the group stage. Of course, in The Champions League, at club level, he highly performed with 25 scored from the Quarter Finals upward, more then double comparing to second ranked, which happens to be, as you can imagine, Lionel Messi. Now, mentioning him, I will switch the numbers for the Argentinian so to circle the comparison properly.

Lionel Messi’s numbers & trophies

If Cristiano started to shine from 2002, Lionel Messi was two years “late” but as all of you know he put his spot once and forever on the history of Barcelona. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t count as much for his national team, Argentina, and at Paris, after signing with PSG made himself quite ridiculous, but this is another topic. For now, let us see some figures, raw numbers, that can be used as a foundation in judging the two.

Total club matches played / goals scored (including Barcelona B & Barcelona C): 837 / 691 (ratio: 0.83 goals / match)
- FC Barcelona: 810 / 683 (0.84 goals / match)
  - League: 552 / 485 (0.88 goals / match)
  - National Cup & Super Cup: 100 / 70 (0.7 goals / match)
  - European competitions (including FIFA World & Intercontinental Cup): 155 / 128 (0.83 goals / match)
- Paris Saint Germain: 27 / 8 (0.3 goals / match)
  - League: 19 / 3 (0.16 goals / match)
  - National Cup: 1 /0
  - European competitions: 7 / 5 (0.72 goals / match)
Total national team matches played / goals scored for Argentina: 160 / 81 (0.51 goals / match)
- World Cup: 19 / 6 (0.32 goals / match) –> 2006 (1 goal), 2014 (4), 2018 (1)
  - no goals scored above the group stage
- Copa America: 34 / 13 (0.38 goals / match) –> 2007 (2 goals), 2015 (1), 2016 (5), 2019 (1), 2021 (4)
  - 5 goals scored outside the group stage
- World Cup Qualification: 60 / 28 (0.47 goals / match)
- Friendly matches: 47 / 34 (0.72 goals / match)
Trophy case of Lionel Messi:
- Club trophies: 34
  - FC Barcelona – 34:
    - La Liga (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)
    - Copa del Rey (2009, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021)
    - Spain Super Cup (2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018)
    - UEFA Champions League (2006, 2009, 2011, 2015)
    - European Super Cup (2009, 2011, 2015)
    - FIFA World Club Cup (2009, 2011, 2015)
- National Team, Argentina, trophies: 2
  - Copa America 2021
  - Summer Olympics gold medal 2008 – a tournament which is not recognized by FIFA
- Individual Major trophies: 42
  - Ballon D’Or: 7 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021)
  - European Golden Shoe: 6 (2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019)
  - FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 1 (2014)
  - La Liga Best Player: 6 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015)
  - La Liga Top Scorer: 8 (2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
  - Argentine Football Player of the Year: 14 (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021) – 9 titles are joint titles

https://youtu.be/QE7MAyHTNSY

Lionel Messi, so many trophies and one World Cup final

Without any doubt, Lionel Messi is the most important player from the history of Barcelona and for sure it will remain the same for a long time. If not forever, at least in our life time. The fact that Messi didn’t spend his entire career at FC Barcelona it is a big mistake, but he needs to live with it from now on. What can be mentioned is that Lionel Messi has a World Cup final played, in which, though, he severely underperformed. Even so, he was considered the best player from the World Cup 2014 which is for sure debatable. Now, it is not my job to discuss this, I am focusing only on the numbers and, for sure, they are generous. The World Cup 2022 will represent for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi their fifth and most likely / logical the last tournament in which they will take place. It is possible for them to play against each other in the final, but realistically speaking this is almost impossible – I explained why here.

Something to add…

The number comparison is clear, but as I said, I will put face to face a second comparison which will gather for each Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi their biggest achievements, but also spots were they severely underperformed comparing to other football greats. In terms of numbers, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are very hard to be equalized, even though, for example, Kylian Mbappe has far more goals scored at 23 years comparing to the two at the same age. Still, it is harder to keep the pace than to start at very high level. Of course, keeping the example, Kilyan Mbape is not only in a great shape, but also a World Champion, winning the trophy with France in 2018, at 19 years, and scoring four goals in the tournament, from which one in the final. But enough with the youngster, let’s go back to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi!

Cristiano Ronaldo + & –

Plus

top scorer in Real Madrid’s history – 450 official goals more than Raul (!!!)
only player to score in three Champions League finals and the only one to score for two winning teams:
- Manchester United
- Real Madrid
became all time top scorer of male football at professional level – 807 senior goals
became all time top scorer for a national football team – Portugal (115 goals and counting)
most goals scored:
- at FIFA World Club Cup: 7
- one UEFA Champions League season: 17 (second and third spot belong to him as well!)
- in European competitions: 140
- UEFA Champions League semifinals: 14
only football player to become top scorer in three top championships: England, Spain and Italy
most assists in Real Madrid’s history: 131
most assist in Champion’s League history: 42
first player to reach 10 international hat-tricks – at national team level, Portugal
most goals scored in a Champions’ League calendar year, 2017: 19
only player to score at four World Cups
European champion alongside Portugal in 2016

Minus

only one goal scored at major tournaments, against an opponent outside the group stage (World Cup & EURO)
poor Champion’s League performance alongside Juventus Torino, no final played
no impact for Portugal at any World Cup – in 2006 they played the semifinals, but he wasn’t the main player
missed a decisive penalty for Manchester United in the final won in 2008 against Chelsea London
only 3 decisive goals scored against big nations: all against the Netherlands (out of 115!!!)
14 out of 115 goals scored against big football nations: The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Argentina

Lionel Messi + & –

Plus

all time top scorer in the history of La Liga: 474 (163 more than second place, Cristiano Ronaldo !!!)
most Ballon D’or prizes won: 7
most goals scored in a calendar year: 91 (!!!) in 2012 for Barcelona and Argentina
all time Barcelona top scorer & most goals scored for a single club: 672 (!!!)
most assists in the history of Barcelona & most recorded assists for a single club: 268
Longest goal scoring run in a domestic league: 21 matches, 33 goals in 2012–13
Most goals and assists in finals: 31 and 14, respectively
Only player to score in seven different official competitions in a single calendar year: 2015, in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League, Copa América, UEFA Super Cup, Super Cup of Spain and FIFA Club World Cup
Most (official) assists provided in football history: 315
most Champions’ League goals scored for a single club: 120
most goals scored by a South American player at International level: 81 for Argentina
Copa America won with Argentina in 2021
Olympic Champion with Argentina in 2004, even though not a competition recognized by FIFA
FIFA World Cup final & FIFA World Cup best player award in 2014

Minus

no goal scored at any of the four World Cups in which he played beyond the group stage
only 7 decisive goals scored against top opponents, all from South America: Uruguay, Chile, Colombia
poor performance at PSG
small impact at Copa America, even in 2021, when Argentina finally won the trophy after 28 years
underperformed in the superior stages of Champions League, comparing to the first stages
poor performance in the Champions league starting 2015: Roma, Liverpool, Bayern and PSG disasters

What is still missing

All in all, putting these two “GOATs” face to face their achievement at club level is almost perfect. Of course, Messi is heavily under performing at PSG, but his greatness at Barcelona helps to reduce this poor impression. Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t have these numbers for one club, but he marked the history of Real Madrid himself and partly at Manchester United. Even at Juventus Torino he broke records, apart from the fact that in the Champions League, excepting the hat-trick against Atletico Madrid, he didn’t help the club too much. Regardless, at club level they could be better, but they won everything that counts and set all kind of records. Where they really disappoint is at national team level. Sure, the numbers are big, but to be honest neither of us can remember Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi for a great match at World Cup, EURO or even Copa America – even though, honestly speaking, this competition is far, far away from the other two.

No performance for Lionel Messi at the World Cup

Lionel Messi won the FIFA World Cup best player award in 2014, but his best performance was in the group stage against Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria which, to be honest, are teams against which any talented football player can perform. Like, Hatem Ben Arfa, let’s say. With Switzerland, Messi indeed provided an assist, but against Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany he didn’t walk the extra-mile. Not to mention the other World Cups, where he was humiliated by Germany and France. It cannot be a coincidence, because he played at four World Cups, exactly like Cristiano Ronaldo, who behaved even worse. Neither he scored any goal in a relevant game, he reached the semis in 2006, but he had colleagues such as Luis Figo at that moment, which was clearly the leader. Goals against Ghana, North Korea or Iran are not enough. OK, Cristiano Ronaldo scored three in 2018 against Spain. But it still happened in the group stage, though…

Cristiano Ronaldo won EURO 2016, but didn’t really performed

At continental level, Cristiano Ronaldo did won EURO 2016, but his only notable performance was in the semis, against Wales, where he scored the only eliminatory goal he has at a major tournament. Now, they have Gareth Bale, OK, but Wales is far for being a team at the level of Croatia at least, let alone Portugal or even Belgium – yes, I know, Wales put out Belgium then, but this doesn’t mean they are a greater nation or an equal. So, sorry, but at EURO, the best displays came in the group stage so… For Lionel Messi, Copa America is even worse, because even though he did won it in 2016, this competition cannot compare with EURO, as much as we want. And we can’t remember a top match of Lionel Messi here against Brazil, Uruguay or even Chile. Let’s be indulgent and include also Colombia here… Nope, neither against them… To have great displays against Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Mexico, Venezuela, USA, Japan or Costa Rica, especially at group stage level, its always nice, but not at Messi level.

Argentina – Portugal, the impossible final

Bottom line, especially because Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi quite underperformed in terms of memorable matches at international level, we all hope to see the best piece of the in Qatar. Cristiano Ronaldo will be almost 38 years old and Lionel Messi will be 35 and a half. This might be a severe impediment, as I assume, but let’s hope they have a last surprise. A final Argentina – Portugal would be something as a happy-end chapter for an era where two of the greatest from all time confronted each other with heavy success, at least among fans!

Statistics source: wikipedia.org

Photo source: everythingbarca.com

by Mircea Dominte

Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi football era comes to an end