Fan from all over the world have always have this debate between Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi is the better footballer?
Does he score more goals? How many assists does he have? When it comes to appearances and awards, Messi has the advantage with seven Ballon d’Or awards to Cristiano Ronaldo’s five and five Champions League titles compared to Messi’s four.
But, who has the edge statistically? We decided to crunch the numbers and find out! According to KTNBlog.
How Many Goals Have They Scored Per Game
In terms of goals scored per game, Messi is doing better. He’s currently scoring one goal every 0.72 games, while Ronaldo needs more time per goal: 0.96 matches.
However, things change when it comes to minutes on pitch per goal: in that category, Ronaldo is beating his rival with 124 mins on pitch per goal to 143 mins for Messi.
How many assists have they made per game: If we talk about assists, Messi has a clear advantage over Ronaldo.
How Many Goals Have They Scored Per Minute
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of, if not THE most popular soccer players on social media with over 696.5 million followers across his accounts.
He’s widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers ever and has been on top for almost a decade.
It’s tough to name another footballer who could reasonably challenge him for that title—and even though it seems inevitable he will someday fall out of favor, you can expect him to stay at or near the top for a long time.
Plus, he’s ridiculously good-looking. At any rate, in addition to being consistently amazing, Lionel Messi’s greatest strength is his dominance on social media.
With more than 435.57 million followers across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, there’s no doubt he knows how to reach fans around the world organically—and despite having fewer followers than Ronaldo overall, he also dominates when it comes to engagement.
Ball Possession Statistics
Another question arise to who holds possession better, Messi or Ronaldo? This dabate has divided football fanatics for years till today.
But which player does hold on to possession more frequently, and who should be labeled as GOAT—the greatest of all time.
When you look at these statistics over a season it seems like Messi has a clear edge in terms of keeping possession and passing accuracy, with an average of 71% possession vs 67% for Ronaldo.
What’s The Total Number Of Games Played In Their Career So Far?
Compare Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s statistics. Both players have had a phenomenal start to their careers with Lionel Messi having played 957 games and Cristiano Ronaldo having played 1106.
However, it’s interesting to note that both players have never managed to play in more than 60 games a season.
Despite both of them not playing more than 60 games a season they have still achieved an outstanding goal record in their career so far with Lionel Messi managing 759 goals and Cristiano Ronaldo managing 804 goals so far.
And despite being known for his abilities with his left foot it’s actually from Lionel Messi’s right foot that he has managed over twice as many goals as from his left foot.
Appearances in World Cups
There’s no doubt that both Ronaldo and Messi are two of the greatest players ever to grace a football pitch, but with only no World Cup trophy under their belt, many still question whether or not Cristiano is truly a better player than Lionel.
Is he just as talented as his teammate, but doesn’t have all of that world-class experience unlike Messi does with the Argentine squad? Or does one’s performance at international competitions give a better indication of who’s the best? It’s certainly an interesting debate.
Both superstars have one more chance at redemption in the fast-approaching 2022 Qatar world cup which might be their last one due to their age closing them to retirement.
Do you think World Cup appearances are important for measuring a player’s greatness?
Major Individual Awards Won By Each Player Till Date
Ballon d’Or: Messi – 7 (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021), Ronaldo 5 (2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017).
FIFA Club World Cup: Messi – 3 (2009, 2011, 2015), Ronaldo – 5 (2008, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018).
FIFA World Player of Year: Messi – 6 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019), Ronaldo – 5 (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 20170.
Number Of Trophies Won By Each Player Till Date
This statistic is used to determine each player’s ability and skill to win trophies. It determines how long each player has been playing football, and how many trophies have they won through that period.
In terms of trophy-winning ability, I think it’s a given that Lionel Messi is greater than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Even though there are people who argue that Messi does win many titles because he played majorly for Barca, I don’t agree with that argument because as stated above, both players have been playing football for around the same number of years (around 18 for Messi and 20 for Ronaldo), yet Cristiano has won 32 trophies over that period while Messi has won 38 trophies, which shows his true dominance in football over the last decade or so.
Number Of Years Before Either Player Got His First Trophy
Both players won their first trophies in back-to-back years, with Messi winning a La Liga title in Spain and Ronaldo a Supertaca Candido de Olivera in Portugal. It’s worth noting that before winning their first trophy, both players were consistently ranked among their league’s top goalscorers.
At age 17, when he won his first trophy, Ronaldo was averaging more than 1 goal per game (34 goals in 34 appearances).
Messi (age 17) was scoring even more frequently – more than one goal every two games.