Updated Oct 24 at 10:05 PM GMT+1

MESSI VS
RONALDO
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All Time Stats

ALL TIME CAREER

Excluding club friendlies

MESSI RONALDO

1045 361 821 862 244 1190

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

105 mins per goal 112 mins per goal

73 mins per goal 88 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME CAREER WITHOUT USA/SAUDI

International Stats + European Club Stats

MESSI RONALDO

1031 356 810 828 235 1152

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

105 mins per goal 113 mins per goal

73 mins per goal 88 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME CLUB

Excluding friendlies

MESSI RONALDO

867 308 715 735 210 987

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

99 mins per goal 110 mins per goal

69 mins per goal 85 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME CLUB EUROPE

All club stats for European clubs (excluding friendlies)

MESSI RONALDO

853 303 704 701 201 949

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

99 mins per goal 110 mins per goal

70 mins per goal 86 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME LEAGUE

MESSI RONALDO

584 224 497 523 151 676

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

96 mins per goal 104 mins per goal

66 mins per goal 81 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME LEAGUE EUROPE

League stats in all European Leagues

MESSI RONALDO

578 222 496 498 144 651

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

95 mins per goal 105 mins per goal

66 mins per goal 81 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME TOP 5 LEAGUES

League stats in Europe's Top 5 Leagues

MESSI RONALDO

578 222 496 495 140 626

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

95 mins per goal 103 mins per goal

66 mins per goal 80 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Excluding qualifying

MESSI RONALDO

163 40 129 140 41 183

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

105 mins per goal 114 mins per goal

80 mins per goal 88 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

QUALIFYING
MESSI RONALDO

0 0 0 1 1 4
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

0 goals per game 253 mins per goal

127 mins per goal

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME DOMESTIC CUPS

Copa del Rey, Coppa Italia, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Coupe de
France, Saudi King Cup, MLS Cup, US Open Cup

MESSI RONALDO

83 35 56 45 10 84
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

122 mins per goal 151 mins per goal

75 mins per goal 124 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME DOMESTIC SUPER CUP

Supercopa de Espana, Supercoppa Italiana, FA Community
Shield, Trophée des Champions, Saudi Super Cup,
Campeones Cup

MESSI RONALDO

21 5 15 6 0 12
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

117 mins per goal 159 mins per goal

88 mins per goal 159 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME UEFA SUPER CUP

MESSI RONALDO

4 2 3 2 0 2
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

140 mins per goal 49 mins per goal

84 mins per goal contribution 49 mins per goal

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME CLUB WORLD CUP

MESSI RONALDO

5 1 5 7 3 8
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

85 mins per goal 106 mins per goal

71 mins per goal contribution 74 mins per goal contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME UEFA CUP / EUROPA LEAGUE

MESSI RONALDO

0 0 0 2 2 8
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

0 goals per game 325 mins per goal

163 mins per goal

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME INTERNATIONALS

MESSI RONALDO

178 53 106 127 34 203

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

139 mins per goal 127 mins per goal

93 mins per goal 100 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

Messi vs Ronaldo - so
who is the best?
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two
of the best footballers of all time, arguably
the very best of them all. And remarkably,
their careers have largely coincided, with
both players dominating the game for well
over a decade now. But who is the best?

We compare them both in a number of

different categories and let you decide the
overall winner.

Who scores more

goals?
What really made this rivalry catch fire was
their incredible, unprecedented goalscoring
rates, with both Messi and Ronaldo
averaging more than one goal every game at
their peaks. During the 9 years Ronaldo
spent at Real Madrid, Messi and Ronaldo
both scored a goal every 85 minutes in all
competitions. The adjacency of their
goalscoring - matching each other blow for
blow - has been astounding over the years.

Over their entire careers, it's Messi who

edges the ratio, with 0.79 goals per game,
whereas Ronaldo has scored 0.72 goals per
game. If we drill down into goals per
minutes, Messi scores a goal every 105
minutes, and Ronaldo scores a goal every
112 minutes.

Ronaldo still has more all time career goals

than Messi though (Ronaldo has 862 career
goals and Messi has 821 career goals), but
Ronaldo has played 145 more games over his
career than Messi has.

Although Messi shades the overall ratio,

Ronaldo spent more of his formative years
as a more traditional right winger, only really
starting to focus on goalscoring as his
primary function in 2006, 3-4 years into his
career. For Messi, it was 2-3 years until he
completed the transformation from a nippy
winger into a player hungry for goals above
everything else. If we take these differing
beginnings into account, the ratios would be
even closer.

Of all the categories, goalscoring is the

hardest to separate them on.

Who provides more

assists?
When it comes to assists, there's only one
winner. Lionel Messi's playmaking abilities
are right up there with the very best, and he
has the numbers to prove it.

Messi has racked up an impressive 361

assists in 1045 career appearances,
compared to Ronaldo's 244 assists in 1190
games.

However, because Messi has a clear

ascendancy when it comes to assists, this
often leads people to fall into the trap of
underestimating Ronaldo's proficiency in this
area. Ronaldo's assist numbers are still
extremely impressive compared to the other
mere mortals that play the beautiful game.

In fact, Ronaldo has more in the Champions

League, with 41 assists to Messi's 40 assists
- granted Ronaldo has played 20 more
matches than Messi, but this is still an
impressive tally.

With that said, you can't ignore Messi's

overall assist stats.

More Assist Stats

Who's the best at

passing?
The passing stats point to a clear winner in
this category; Lionel Messi. But again,
Ronaldo's passing abilities are often
underestimated.

In the league and Champions League since

2009/10, Messi has made 1393 key passes in
599 appearances, whilst Ronaldo has made
932 key passes in 561 appearances.

Messi also dominates the throughball

statistics, making 450 successful
throughballs in that same time period,
compared to Ronaldo's 81 successful
throughballs.

Although Messi's passing numbers are

clearly superior, Ronaldo's are still
impressive. It's also likely that his passing
stats would have been significantly higher
before 2009 when he was more involved in
the creative build-up play.

More Key Pass Stats

Who's the best at

dribbling?
Ronaldo started his career as a tricky winger,
when his game was all about running at and
beating defenders with his pace and skill. As
he has transitioned to an inside-forward /
striker role over the years, dribbling has
naturally become significantly less of a
factor in Ronaldo's performances.

Messi also started his footballing career

stuck to the by-line, eventually moving to a
more central role as his primary position for
most of his career. However, Messi plays a
very different game to a traditional centre-
forward, with his natural Number 10 abilities
making him the perfect False 9. As a result
Messi comes much deeper, towards the play,
rather than making runs and playing off the
shoulder of the defenders.

Because he often comes deep to receive the

ball, dribbling is still a major part of Messi's
game, completing an incredible 3202
dribbles in the league and Champions
League, compared to Ronaldo's 1686
successful dribbles (since 2003/04).

There is therefore little doubt that Lionel

Messi is the best when it comes to dribbling.

More Dribbling Stats

Who's the best at

heading?
Heading is without doubt the most clear-cut
category, with Ronaldo's heading stats
absolutely dwarfing Messi's.

Over their entire careers, Ronaldo has

scored 146 headers in 1190 appearances,
whereas Messi has scored just 26 headers
in 1045 appearances.

In addition to headed goals, Ronaldo has

also won 776 aerial duels in the league and
Champions League since 2009/10 compared
to Messi's 116 aerial duels won.

Of course, when you look at their respective

builds, the way they play, the way their
teams play, these numbers are hardly
surprising.

More Aerial Duel Stats

Who's the best at

shooting?
The stats show that Ronaldo consistently
has more shots on goal than Messi, totalling
3631 shots in the league and Champions
League since 2009/10, compared to Messi's
2941 shots.

However, Messi converts a higher

percentage of his shots, scoring a goal with
every 5.27 shots, whereas Ronaldo scores a
goal with every 6.43 shots.

Leo Messi also gets more of his shots on

target, with 47.19%, of his efforts on target
compared to Ronaldo's 41.28%,.

However, despite Messi's superior efficiency,

the sheer volume of attempts Cristiano
Ronaldo is able to produce is incredible and
an important skill in itself. He also has the
edge in terms of shooting from long-range,
as well as with his weak foot and head, so
that's enough to call this one a tie.

More Shooting Stats

Who's the best at

penalties?
When it comes to penalties, Ronaldo's
numbers are comfortably superior to
Messi's, although perhaps not by as much as
some people think. The media perception is
that Messi is unreliable from the spot,
whereas Ronaldo is the ultimate ice-cool
penalty king - the truth, is somewhere in
between.

Excluding shootouts, Ronaldo has scored an

impressive 158 penalties (with 29 misses)
over his whole career, whereas Messi has
scored 108 penalties (with 31 misses).

This gives Ronaldo an overall penalty

conversion rate of 84%, compared to
Messi's overall penalty conversion rate of
78%.

Ronaldo's stats are clearly better, however

he's not as reliable as he is sometimes
portrayed, with other elite strikers such as
Lewandowski and Ibrahimovic boasting
significantly better conversion rates.

In terms of big penalty misses, Messi missed

one in the 2016 Copa America final shootout
against Chile, and the 2012 Champions
League semi-final miss against Chelsea.

For Ronaldo, his biggest penalty misses

came in the 2008 Champions League final
shootout against Chelsea (his Man Utd side
would ultimately go on to win due to John
Terry's miss), and in the 2012 Champions
League semi-final shootout against Bayern
Munich (which did prove fatal for Real
Madrid).

More Penalty Stats

Who's the best at free

kicks?
In recent years, Messi has become the
ultimate free kick specialist, whilst Ronaldo's
proficiency in this area has diminished
somewhat alarmingly. However, to say that
this category is therefore cut-and-dry is
simple recency bias.

For example, it may be true that from 2017-

2019, Messi scored 23 free kick goals to
Ronaldo's 5; however, from 2009-2011,
Ronaldo scored 21 direct free kick goals to
Messi's 3.

In terms of the all time career stats, Messi

has now scored 65 free kick goals compared
to Ronaldo's 61 free kick goals.

A few years ago this category seemed like a

lock for Cristiano Ronaldo, but Leo Messi's
stunning turnaround in recent years means
he's caught up with Ronaldo and also has the
better free kick conversion rate, so he just
shades this one.

More Free Kick Stats

Who scores more hat

tricks?
The rate at which Messi and Ronaldo score
hat tricks is scarcely believable, with a
staggering 120 between them; 57 career hat
tricks for Messi and 63 career hat tricks for
Ronaldo.

Ronaldo may still have the overall lead, but

Messi has a slight edge in terms of
frequency. Messi scores a hat trick every
18.3 games, whereas Ronaldo scores a hat
trick every 18.9 games.

These numbers are so tight, and to add to

this, their hat trick count in league games is:
36 hat tricks for Messi and 42 hat-tricks for
Ronaldo. And in the Champions League? 8
hat tricks for Messi and 8 hat tricks for
Ronaldo.

More Hat-trick Stats

Who has won more

individual awards?
No other footballers in history have
sustained such elite levels for such a long
period of time. Their stranglehold on the
coveted Ballon d'Or award has been
relentless, with Messi's 7 Ballon d'Or
trophies edging Ronaldo's haul of 5 Ballons
d'Or. No other player in history has won
more than 3! If Messi or Ronaldo didn't have
each other to compete with for the award
over the years, it's not inconceivable that
one of them could have picked up the award
10 times or more.

In terms of UEFA's top award, it's Ronaldo

that has the edge with 4 awards (1x UEFA
Club Footballer of the Year, 2x UEFA Best
Player in Europe, 1x UEFA Men's Player of the
Year) to Messi's 3 awards (1x UEFA Club
Footballer of the Year, 2x UEFA Best Player in
Europe).

In terms of golden boots, Messi has finished

as the league's top scorer 8 times, winning
the European Golden Shoe on 6 of those
occasions. Ronaldo has finished as top
scorer in the league 5 times (once in the
Premier League, once in Serie A, and 3 times
in La Liga), winning 4 European Golden Shoes
in the process.

Ronaldo has won the Puskas award for best

goal in a calendar year (2 nominations),
whereas Messi has so far failed to win this
award despite being nominated 7 times.

Messi has however won the Golden Ball,

awarded to the player of the tournament at
 the World Cup, on two occasions - once in
2014 when he took his side to the final and
again in 2022 where he was triumphant. He
has also been named Copa America's Best
Player on two occasions, and Best Young
Player once.

All Honours & Achievements

Who has won more

trophies?
In terms of trophies, Messi has the overall
lead, with 44 trophies to Ronaldo's 35
trophies (including Messi's 2008 Olympic
triumph and 2005 U-20 World Cup).

Internationally, Messi has now won both the

Copa America and the World Cup with
Argentina, while Ronaldo has won the Euros
with Portugal as well as a Nations League
trophy.

Messi has 12 league titles to Ronaldo's 7, but

Ronaldo has the ascendancy in terms of
Champions League triumphs with 5 to
Messi's 4. There's not a lot in it, but the
overall figures means Messi currently edges
this one.

All Honours & Achievements

Who has more

records?
In short, Messi and Ronaldo have a similar
number of records to their name. The most
startling is maybe Messi's Guiness World
Record for scoring 91 goals in a calendar
year in 2012. To put this into context, Messi's
next best is 60 and Ronaldo's best is 69. To
score 91 goals in a year is other worldly.

Ronaldo however dominates the Champions

League record books, with most goals, most
assists, most free kick goals, most hat-tricks
(shared with Messi), and most goals in a
single season.

Messi holds many European records at

domestic level, with the most league goals
scored in a single season (50 goals), and
most consecutive league matches scored in
in world football (21 matches, 33 goals).

At International level, Ronaldo is the all time

top scorer with an unbelievable 127 goals,
whilst Messi is the highest scoring South
American of all time with 106 goals.

All Records

Who's better at
international level?
Both players can claim to have enjoyed
fantastic careers at international level - their
numbers aren't quite as other-wordly as
what they produce for their club sides, but
they are still extremely impressive
nonetheless.

Ronaldo scores a goal every 127 minutes for

Portugal, and Messi scores a goal every 139
minutes for Argentina. When you factor in
assists, Ronaldo makes a goal contribution
every 100 minutes, whereas Messi makes a
goal contribution every 93 minutes.

Ronaldo is Portugal's all-time top scorer

with 127 goals (in 203 appearances), and
Messi is Argentina's all-time top scorer with
106 goals (in 178 appearances).

In terms of individual accolades for the

national team, Ronaldo won the Euro 2021
Golden Boot for the top scorer, as well as the
Silver Boot at Euro 2016 for scoring the 2nd
most goals in the tournament. Messi has
won the World Cup Golden Ball twice (2014
+ 2022) (the only player ever to do so) and
the Copa America Golden Ball twice (2015 &
2021), awarded to the best player of those
respective tournaments. He also scooped
the Golden Boot award at Copa America
2021 and the Silver Boot award at the 2022
World Cup.

Messi has experienced more heartache at

international level, losing in 4 major finals,
but he was finally able to triumph with his
country at full senior level at Copa America
2021. He went on to win the Finalissima
trophy (UEFA / CONMEBOL Cup of
Champions) in 2022 against European
champions Italy, and then won the biggest
prize of them all later that year: the World
Cup!

This is in addition to his Olympic Gold medal

(with an Argentina U23 side) and the FIFA
U20 World Cup trophy.

Ronaldo has reached 2 major international

finals with Portugal, winning one of these at
the 2016 European Championships, and
losing the other at Euro 2004. He also won
the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, and
has the most goals in the history of
international football!

Ronaldo has the better goalscoring record,

but Messi has more individual accolades (4
Best Player awards at major tournaments -
the most in history), and has now won both
the Copa America and World Cup!

More International Stats

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