The Lionel Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo debate is arguably the biggest conundrum in football since the Diego Maradona-Pele debate. They are arguably the two top players currently in the World. They have dominated the game for the last decade and the world would be forever indebted to them for the entertainment they gave while they were at the pick of their careers. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 699 goals and has 117 international goals at 37 years goals. On the other hand, Lionel Messi at the age of 34 has scored 681 goals for Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain while he has 88 goals while representing Argentina on international duty. The two superstars have won 12 Ballon D'or between themselves with Messi having 7 and Ronaldo 5. The question of who is better between the Portuguese phenomenon and the empyrean Argentine has dominated the minds of football fans everywhere for the past decade and will persist into the future.

National and club loyalties play a big role in people determining who their best player is while personalities are also a key factor in how good a player is perceived to be. When it comes to assists, Messi is much superior to Ronaldo and that contrast has become increasingly stark as their respective roles evolve. The fact that Lionel Messi creates so many goals as well as scoring them is a major factor in deciding who is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) amongst the two. Cristiano Ronaldo is the leading all-time goal scorer in the UEFA Champions League having shone in the tournament with Manchester United and Real Madrid. There is a good chance though that Messi can overtake Ronaldo if he continues with the goalscoring spark that he enjoyed at Barcelona in his second season with PSG. 

When it comes to the FIFA World Cup, both Messi and Ronaldo are considered to be underperformers as none of them are yet to win the global showpiece with their respective countries. Messi has gone the furthest and reached the final with Argentina in 2014 where they lost to Germany at extra-time while Ronaldo has only gone as far as the round of 16. Ronaldo boasts of having more goals in the tournament though. Messi won the golden ball during the 2014 tournament in Brazil. Lionel Messi has won the Copa America 2021 with Argentina as they beat Brazil in the final while Cristiano Ronaldo won the Euro 2016 with Portugal when they beat France in the final match. Messi has recently won the Finalissima cup as Argentina demolished Germany 3-0 which now gives him both South American and European glory. Argentina remains one of the favorites to win the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Messi has 10 LaLiga titles with Barcelona and 1 Ligue1 title with PSG while Ronaldo has 7 league titles won by Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus. Ronaldo edges Messi a little bit in the UEFA Champions League titles. Messi additionally has an Olympic gold medal. When it comes to individual awards other than the Ballon D'or, Ronaldo has won the UEFA player of the year 4 times while Messi has won it thrice. Messi, however, edges out Ronaldo in the European Golden Shoe having won it 6 times as compared to the 4 times won by Ronaldo. As mentioned earlier, Messi also has got more Ballon D'ors than Ronaldo. The award is considered the most prestigious individual award in the world of football. Football fanatics can argue for hours on end over who is better than the other in different aspects of football as the world remains deeply divided between the two but the fact remains that they are arguably the two greatest players to ever grace the game of football.