Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Head-to-head history, records and stats (2024)

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Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Head-to-head history, records and stats? ›

Highlights. Messi and Ronaldo have faced each other 36 times, with Messi winning 16 matches and Ronaldo winning 11 matches. Messi has scored 22 goals and provided 12 assists in their clashes, while Ronaldo has scored 21 goals and provided 1 assist.

Messi leads the head-to-head record with 16 wins in competitive matches to Ronaldo's 11, while there have been nine draws.

Lionel Messi has 41 Guinness world records and Cristiano Ronaldo has 40. Possibly the best footballer of all time is Lionel Messi. His career has been extraordinarily successful, and during that time, he has smashed numerous records. At the World Cup, he received the most man-of-the-match honours (11).

They are two of the most decorated footballers ever, having won 77 official trophies in total (Messi 44, Ronaldo 33) during their senior careers thus far, and have regularly broken the 50-goal barrier in a single season. They are the only two players to score over 800 goals each in their careers for club and country.

– It's incredibly unlikely that Messi could break Ronaldo's record this season. His best-ever season – at the absolute peak of his powers, when he scored 50 in La Liga and 73 in all competitions for Barcelona – was 2011-12, and that year he finished as the Champions League's top scorer with 14.

Lionel Messi has won more El -Clasico than Cristanio Ronaldo . Leo Messi 🇦🇷 had played 38 El-Clasico Matches , won 17 times , 12 times loose and 9 times draw and scored 26 Goals⚽ with 14 Assists and 68 chances created . Cristanio Ronaldo🇵🇹 had played 30 El-Clasico Matches , won 8 times , 14 times…

While Ronaldo currently has more goals overall, Messi has the edge in the scoring department, with a higher season average (37.9 to 35), having hit a high of 73 goals in 2011-12, though his average dropped after a disappointing maiden campaign at PSG in 2021-22.

Messi vs Ronaldo: head-to-head

Cristiano Ronaldo's number of Champions League titles is slightly higher - the Portugal man having five compared to his counterpart's four. However, the Argentinian remains the more popular figure for many: Lionel Messi's net favorability reaches up to 78 percent in some countries.

Who has won the European Golden Boot the most number of times? Lionel Messi has won it the most number of times – six – with all coming during his stint at Barcelona. Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only players to have won the Boot three or more times.

Who is richer, Messi or Ronaldo? ›

Synopsis. Portugal's star striker and World Cupper Cristiano Ronaldo, who currently plays in the cash-rich Saudi Pro League, has emerged as the richest sportsman as Lionel Messi settles for the third position. Five footballers have made it to the top-10 richest sporting stars list released by 'Forbes magazine recently.

Messi has an average speed of 23 km/h and Ronaldo has an average speed of 22 km/h. They are close, but Messi has a slight edge.

The individual battle between Ronaldo and Messi has been the defining feature of modern football for the past decade and more. Messi went ahead of Ronaldo in the Ballon d'Or stakes when he won his sixth in 2019 and cemented his superior status in that field with his seventh in 2021 and eighth in 2023.

A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (474), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (eight), and most assists in La Liga (192) and the Copa América (17). He also has the most international goals by a South American male (106).

#1 Lionel Messi - 395 Man of the Match awards

The Barcelona legend, who currently plays for MLS outfit Inter Miami, has won a whopping 395 Man of the Match awards in his career - 219 more than Ronaldo, who is behind him in second.

The 17 players that are included in the list are ranked in five different categories, with Messi being hailed as the GOAT. Ronaldo, Maradona, Pele and Johan Cruyff are ranked as legends.