Messi vs Ronaldo Goals 2022: Many people wonder who is the best football player in the 21st century, Ronaldo or Messi. It’s not an easy question, with both players having different playstyles and strengths. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi also have very different backgrounds, whether at club or selection.
Messi vs Ronaldo Goals 2022
Discover the comparison of Ronaldo vs Messi, who is the best footballer?
Presentation of The Players
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Lionel Messi |
| Age: 37 | Age: 35 |
| Height: 1.87m | Height: 1.70m |
| Strong foot: Right | Strong foot: Left |
| Nationality: Portuguese | Nationality: Argentinian |
| Current Club: Manchester United | Current Club: PSG |
Messi vs Ronaldo Total Career Goals: Who is The Top Scorer?
| Totals | Messi | Ronaldo |
|---|---|---|
| MATCHES | 974 | 1121 |
| GOALS | 769 | 815 |
| GOALS (No Penalties) | 666 | 671 |
| ASSISTANCE | 331 | 231 |
| AVERAGE (Goals) | 0.79 | 0.73 |
| TITLES (Win/Play) | 40/85 | 34/90 |
| GOLDEN BALL | 7 | 5 |
| GOLDEN BOOT | 6 | 4 |
| SEASONS | 18 | 20 |
Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are among the top scorers in football history. Thanks to their quality of finishing, they exceeded the 700 goals mark in all competitions. Currently, CR7 has 795 goals, while Messi is at 755 goals in his career, which is a bit less than his Portuguese rival.
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But we must also remember that Cristiano Ronaldo started his career 2 years before Messi, so the Argentinian can still catch up in the future.
Today, Leo Messi finds himself in 5th place in the ranking of all-time top scorers, while Ronaldo is in 2nd position. Both players can still reach the top spot in the standings before the end of their careers.
Messi vs Ronaldo Number of Club Goals
| Ronaldo | Messi |
| 686 Goals | 678 Goals |
At the club level, the two greatest players of the 21st century have completely different careers. While Messi has long been loyal to his training club, FC Barcelona, ​​CR7 has passed through several major European clubs, including Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus.
The Argentinian player has therefore scored his 672 club goals for Barcelona, ​​​​and 3 goals already for Paris Saint-Germain. Ronaldo scored 5 goals for Sporting CP, 124 for Man United, 450 for Real, and 101 for Juventus.
Messi vs Ronaldo Total League Goals
| Ronaldo | Messi |
| 482 Goals | 474 Goals |
As he evolved at FC Barcelona for most of his career, Messi has long only known La Liga. The Argentinian wonderkid is by far the top scorer in La Liga history with 474 goals scored in 520 games and a goals-per-game ratio of 0.91.
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Cristiano Ronaldo has passed through many championships. He has 3 goals in Liga NOS, 87 in the Premier League, 311 in Spanish Liga, and 81 in Serie A. This makes a total of 482 goals in 617 league games, and therefore a ratio of 0.78 goals per game for the Portuguese player.
Messi vs Ronaldo Total Champions League Goals:
| Ronaldo | Messi |
| 138 Goals | 123 Goals |
The Champions League is the most prestigious club competition in the world. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have both been attending every year for over 15 years now. We find them in the first two positions in the ranking of the top scorers in the history of the LDC, with a slight advantage for CR7.
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Indeed, the Portuguese striker has scored 138 goals in 183 total games in the competition, which makes a ratio of 0.75 goals per game. Messi has 123 goals, which is 15 less than his rival, but his ratio is 0.81 goals per game.
Messi vs Ronaldo Number of Goals in Selection
| Ronaldo | Messi |
| 115 goals | 75 goals |
In the national team, the two football stars have very different careers. While Messi struggles to regain the level he displays at Barça with the Argentine selection, Ronaldo is the hero of the Portuguese selection. La Pulga has scored 80 goals in 156 games (ratio of 0.51) for Argentina, while CR7 has scored 115 goals in 182 games (ratio of 0.63).
Messi vs Ronaldo Total World Cup Goals
| Ronald | Messi |
| 7 Goals | 6 Goals |
Despite being considered the two best players of the 21st century, Ronaldo and Messi never really knew how to shine at the World Cup. With 7 and 6 goals scored in total respectively, they are not among the top scorers in World Cup history.
Messi vs Ronaldo Career Assists
| Ronaldo | Messi |
| 253 Assists | 328 Assists |
In football, scoring goals is not the only quality a player can have. The construction of the game and passing are equally important elements. One of the statistics that can be used to compare players is the number of assists. In this area, we quickly notice that Lionel Messi is superior to Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Indeed, Leo Messi has made more assists in fewer games played than CR7. For the Argentina player, there are 315 assists in 940 games, which places him as the best passer of all time. On the side of Ronaldo, we can count 239 assists in 1086 games, club and selection combined.
Messi vs Ronaldo Free-Kick Goals
| Ronaldo | Messi |
| 55 Goals | 58 Goals |
The free kick is a difficult exercise, and few players have managed to master the art of taking it. However, both Ronaldo and Messi were able to place themselves among the best free-kick takers in history.
At the start of his career, Cristiano Ronaldo was a fearsome free-kick taker. With Manchester United and at the start of his move to Real Madrid, he went on to score goals from set-pieces.
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But in recent years, he has been a little less efficient, even if he is still one of the best in this field. In total, Ronaldo has scored 57 free-kick times, which is an average of 6% of free-kicks attempted.
For his part, Lionel Messi took a few free kicks in his early years, but he rose to prominence throughout his career. He has simply become the best free-kick taker in recent years, with 24 free kicks scored in the last three seasons. Messi has scored a total of 58 goals from set-pieces, averaging 9% from his attempts.
We can therefore expect Lionel Messi to get even further ahead of his rival in the coming years. With a much better ratio than the Portuguese, he has a significant advantage on this point.
Messi vs Ronaldo Dribbling Stats Since 2006/2007
| Ronaldo | Messi |
| 816 Successful Dribbles | 1880 Successful Dribbles |
Dribbling is one of the finest gestures in football. In addition to being very pleasant to watch, dribbling can lead to very dangerous situations if done well. Since the 2006/2007 season, statistics on dribbling are counted, and we can therefore compare performances between CR7 and Messi.
Cristiano Ronaldo tried a lot more dribbling at the start of his career, especially with Manchester United. Despite the fact that he dribbles less these days, he is still found among the best dribblers of the 21st century. In total, Ronaldo has completed 816 dribbles since 2006, with a success rate of 44%.
Lionel Messi is unquestionably the best dribbler of the last 20 years. Whether with FC Barcelona or the selection of Argentina, he manages to dribble the best defenders in Europe and the world. With 1880 successful dribbles and a success rate of 52.7%, he ranks first among the best dribblers since the 06/07 season.
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Messi vs Ronaldo Trophies
In this table, only the trophies won as a professional team are counted. Domestic cups also include League Cups and Super Cups.
| Ronaldo | Messi |
| Club | Club |
| Leagues: 7 | Leagues: 10 |
| Domestic Cups: 12 | Domestic Cups: 15 |
| Champions League: 5 | Champions League: 4 |
| Club World Cup: 4 | Club World Cup: 3 |
| UEFA Super Cup: 2 | UEFA Super Cup: 3 |
| Selection | Selection |
| Euro: 1 Nation’s League: 1 | Copa America: 1, Finalissima: 1 |
| Total: 32 trophies | Total: 36 trophies |
Trophies are surely the greatest reward for a football player. Some players have the ability to carry their teams to allow them to win the biggest trophies. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among these players. Both have won many tournaments and international competitions and are among the most successful players in the world.
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CR7 went through several major European clubs and won many titles wherever he went. With Manchester United, he notably won the Premier League 3 times, the FA Cup, and a Champions League.
During his time at Real Madrid, Ronaldo won, among other things, 2 times La Liga, 2 times the Copa del Rey, and 4 times the LDC. Since joining Juventus from Turin, he has stocked his trophy cabinet with two Serie A and an Italian Cup. But Ronaldo also managed to win titles with his national team, winning a Euro and a Nation’s League.
Lionel Messi has spent almost his entire career at FC Barcelona ​​​​and has won all of his trophies there. In particular, with 10 La Liga and 7 King’s Cups won, he has one of the finest records in Spanish football.
La Pulga has also had 4 Champions League victories at the international level, as well as 3 Club World Cup wins. In selection, Messi won only one title with Argentina and remains in 3 Copa América finals and a lost World Cup final.
Messi vs Ronaldo Most Individual Awards?
| Ronaldo | Messi |
| Ballon d’Or: 5 | Ballon d’Or: 6 |
| Best FIFA Footballer of the Year: 3 | Best FIFA Footballer of the Year: 2 |
| European Golden Boot: 4 | European Golden Boot: 6 |
| UCL top scorer: 7 League | UCL top scorer: 6 League |
| Top scorer: 5 | Top scorer: 8 |
There are dozens of different individual awards, but our chart will only include some of the most prestigious. The Ballon d’Or is certainly the most prestigious individual award in the world of football. Messi and Ronaldo are simply the two players who have received the most Ballons d’Or in history. In this area, the Argentinian player has one more than his Portuguese rival.
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Conclusion
After studying all the statistics, we can therefore see that it is difficult to decide between the two greatest players of the modern era. While Ronaldo overtakes Messi in goals scored and trophies won, the Argentinian player is ahead in the number of assists and dribbles.
The two players each have their assets and their strengths, which makes the comparison very complicated. It should also be added that statistics cannot take everything into account equally. We can think in particular of the construction of the game, the defensive efforts, or the game without the ball.
