The question of who is better between the two legends of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi has been on the minds of every football fan for the past decade and will continue in the future.
Who is the GOAT in football? Let us have a look at it statistically.
Club goals
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Season | Messi |
| 5 | 2002-03 | – |
| 6 | 2003-04 | – |
| 9 | 2004-05 | 1 |
| 12 | 2005-06 | 8 |
| 23 | 2006-07 | 17 |
| 42 | 2007-08 | 16 |
| 26 | 2008-09 | 38 |
| 33 | 2009-10 | 47 |
| 53 | 2010-11 | 53 |
| 60 | 2011-12 | 73 |
| 55 | 2012-13 | 60 |
| 51 | 2013-14 | 41 |
| 61 | 2014-15 | 58 |
| 51 | 2015-16 | 41 |
| 42 | 2016-17 | 54 |
| 44 | 2017-18 | 45 |
| 28 | 2018-19 | 51 |
| 37 | 2019-20 | 31 |
| 36 | 2020-21 | 38 |
| 674 | Total | 672 |
A very close competition between the two legends of the game. Ronaldo has scored two more club goals than Messi, but he has also played two more seasons than him.
While Ronaldo currently has more goals overall, Messi leads the chart in the scoring department, with a higher season average of 39, having hit a high of 73 goals in 2011-12.
Goal positions
| Goals | Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo |
| Free kick goals | 53 | 55 |
| Penalty goals | 90 | 126 |
| Hattrick Goals | 54 | 56 |
| Braces goals | 134 | 127 |
| Goals Scored in the Finals | 29 | 19 |
From the above table, we can see that Cristiano leads the chart in Penalty goals, Free kick goals, Hattrick goals but when it comes to finals Messi leads the chart with a margin of 10. Both of them have always played a huge role in scoring goals for all the teams they have played for.
World Cup stats
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Stats | Lionel Messi |
| 17 | Appearances | 19 |
| 7 | Goals | 6 |
| 0.4 | Goals per game | 0.3 |
Both of them have been the underperformers on the world cup stage. Ronaldo has scored more goals in the world Cup and that too in fewer appearances but he hasn’t taken his team to the finals yet. On the other hand, Messi took Argentina through the finals in the world cup 2014 and also won the gold ball during that tournament.
International stats
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| Cristiano Ronaldo | Stats | Lionel Messi |
| 173 | Appearances | 142 |
| 103 | Goals | 71 |
| 0.6 | Goals per game | 0.5 |
Ronaldo and Messi have almost similar records at the international level, though CR7 has the edge over Messi statistically he has also played two seasons more than Messi.
Ronaldo’s ultimate goal is to break Ali Daei’s 109 international goals record and could conceivably become the top international goalscorer of all time before he hangs up his boots. Currently, Messi is Argentina’s top goalscorer of all time, surpassing Gabriel Batistuta some years ago.
Titles
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Competition | Lionel Messi |
| 0 | World Cup | 0 |
| 1 | European Championship / Copa America | 0 |
| 0 | Olympics | 1 |
| 7 | League titles | 10 |
| 5 | Champions League | 4 |
| 4 | Club World Cup | 3 |
| 4 | National Cups* | 7 |
Both of them have almost won similar trophy counts, but Messi edges when it comes to league titles, having won La Liga 10 times with Barcelona. Cristiano has seven league titles, but unlike Messi, he can claim to have won the league in three different countries. In the Champions League, ‘Mr. Champions League’ aka Ronaldo has an edge over Messi.
Ronaldo has also enjoyed notable success on the international stage, winning the European Championship and the UEFA Nations League.