There is no denying that Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest soccer player in the history of soccer. After winning everything there is to win, Messi has successfully cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats. However, throughout his career, the Argentine has faced stiff competition from his arch-nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Messi-Ronaldo debate has been one of the most incessant and heated topics of debate in the soccer world. Former and present soccer stars, journalists, celebrities, and fans alike have expressed their opinions on who they consider the best. Although, since winning the World Cup in 2022, most people believe that Messi has ended the debate. However, let’s take a look at 99 other reasons why Messi can be indeed considered to be the GOAT.
100 reasons that prove Lionel Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo
- Lionel Messi won the ultimate prize in soccer in 2022 when he led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar. Cristiano Ronaldo, who’s yet to win a World Cup, was knocked out of the tournament in Qatar in the quarterfinals.
- Lionel Messi won an unprecedented, record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or award in October 2023. Following Messi’s win last year, he has now three more Ballon d’Or awards than Cristiano Ronaldo.
- Messi also remains the player with the most European Golden Shoes to his name. Ronaldo, currently, has only four.
- Despite Cristiano Ronaldo being the highest active goal scorer in soccer (873 goals in 1204 appearances), Messi has a better goal-scoring ratio. Messi, with 821 goals in 1047 appearances, has a goal ratio of 0.78 goals per game compared to Ronaldo’s 0.72 goals per game.
- The Inter Miami star also has more goal contributions (1182 goals and assists in 1047 games) than Ronaldo (1122 goals and assists in 1204 games).
- To this date, Messi has appeared in 48 finals for his club and country where he has scored 35 goals and provided 15 assists. Ronaldo has 22 goals and two assists in 36 final appearances.
- Messi is the all-time highest scorer in Europe with 704 goals. He scored 672 goals for FC Barcelona and 32 goals for PSG.
- According to reports from Opta from October 2023, Lionel Messi has completed a remarkable 2358 dribbles since the 2006-07 season. While Messi sits comfortably on the top of the list, Ronaldo has only managed to complete 937 dribbles during the same period.
- In a report published last year, it was found out that Messi was the player who had accumulated the most man-of-the-match awards in his career with 395 awards to his name. Ronaldo, who comes second, has only 176 man-of-the-match awards to his name.
- While Messi managed to win the prestigious World Cup trophy in Qatar in 2022, he has also managed to set some impressive records. The Argentine skipper has now the most goal contributions in the World Cup finals with 13 goals and eight assists.
- Messi also became the only player to win the Golden Ball at the World Cup twice in his career (2014, 2022).
- He also became the oldest player ever to win the World Cup Golden Ball in 2022 at 35 years 178 days.
- He also scored the most opening goals (8) in the World Cup finals.
- Messi also is the player who has completed the most dribbles in the World Cup finals with 120 dribbles. Messi’s compatriot and the late Argentine icon Diego Maradona comes second with 106 dribbles.
- Messi also has the most appearances in the World Cup finals with 26 games played.
- Moreover, the Argentine ace also has played the most minutes (2314 minutes) in the World Cup finals.
- Messi also has the most appearances (19) as a captain in the World Cup finals.
- He has also scored in 11 World Cup finals games, a record that he shares with the ex-German international Miroslav Klose.
- He also has won the most man-of-the-match awards (11) in the World Cup finals.
- In the 2022 World Cup, Messi set a record of winning the most man-of-the-match awards (5) in a single World Cup edition.
- He also became the only player to win the man-of-the-match award in every round of the tournament- group stages, the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final.
- In addition to this, Messi also became the only player to have scored a goal in every round of the World Cup finals in a single World Cup edition.
- Messi also is the only player who has scored a goal in the World Cup finals in his teens, twenties, and thirties.
- Messi also is the youngest and the oldest player to score a goal and make an assist in a World Cup match (18y 357d and 35y 172d).
- The gap between Messi’s first World Cup finals goal and his last goal is the biggest by any player (16 years, 6 months, 3 days).
- In 2005, Lionel Messi also won the U-20 World Cup and was the top scorer and the player of the tournament.
- The former PSG star also won the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, something that Ronaldo hasn’t managed to do yet.
- He also is the only soccer star and the only athlete from a team sport to have won the Laureus Sportsman of the Year twice.
- Messi has a better head-to-head record against Ronaldo with 22 goals and 12 assists in 36 matches while the Portuguese has scored 21 goals and provided one assist.
- Messi also has scored 65 free kicks compared to Ronaldo’s 61 free kicks and has a better conversion rate of one free kick in 16.1 games.
- Messi also is the soccer star with the most Guinness world records to his name with 41 records under his belt.
- He has the record for the most goals scored for a single club with 672 goals for FC Barcelona.
- He also has scored the most league goals scored for a single European club with 474 La Liga goals.
- Messi also has the record for the most goals scored in Europe’s top five leagues with 497 goals.
- The ex-FC Barcelona talisman has also scored the most Champions League goals for a single club (120 goals for FC Barcelona).
- Messi is the fastest player to score 100 Champions League goals, a feat he achieved in 123 games.
- He also is the player who required the fewest number of games (334) to score 300 goals in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
- Messi also needed the fewest number of games (435) to score 400 goals in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
- He also is the youngest player to mark 100 appearances in the UEFA Champions League (28 years, 84 days).
- Messi holds the record for most goals scored in a single Champions League game (5 goals against Bayer Leverkusen), a record he shares with Luiz Adriano and Erling Haaland.
- The 36-year-old also has the record for most goals scored in a Champions League quarterfinal game (4 goals against Arsenal).
- While Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer in the Champions League, Lionel Messi has a better goal ratio. The Al-Nassr star has a rate of one goal every 114 minutes, while Messi, who’s the second-highest scorer in the competition, has a rate of one goal every 105 minutes.
- Messi also holds the record for scoring the most goals in the group stages of the Champions League with 80 goals.
- He also has the most goals in the round of 16 of the Champions League (29) and the most home goals (78) in the tournament.
- Moreover, Messi has the record for most consecutive seasons (18) with a Champions League goal that he shares with Karim Benzema.
- Additionally, Messi also has a record of scoring against most different opponents (40) scored against in the Champions League.
- Messi also has a much better record in the historic El Clasico games, with the former FC Barcelona being the top scorer in El Clasico with 26 goals.
- He is also the top assist provider in El Clasico history, with 14 assists to his name.
- The Argentine soccer star also has scored two hat tricks in El Clasicos, a feat Ronaldo has never managed to replicate.
- Unlike Ronaldo, Messi also has scored two free kicks in the El Clasico games.
- Another impressive record that Messi boasts is scoring more goals outside the box. While Ronaldo has scored 67 goals from outside the box, Messi has a remarkable 92 goals.
- The Argentine magician also holds the record of winning the most trophies ever in soccer history, with a whopping 44 titles to his name.
- While Ronaldo has more hat tricks than Messi, the Inter Miami captain has scored more hat tricks without penalties. Compared to Messi’s 42 hat tricks, Ronaldo has just 28 hat tricks without penalties.
- Messi also became the first player to score 700 goals excluding penalties.
- Besides being the record Ballon d’Or winner, Messi has the record for most appearances (14) in the top three of the Ballon d’Or nomination.
- He also is the only player to have won the Ballon d’Or award in three different decades, winning it once in 2009, five times between 2010 to 2020, and twice after 2021.
- Messi also holds the record of having the most appearances (16) in the FIFPro World XI.
- Messi also has managed to set some of the most impressive goal-scoring records in soccer history. He is the only player to score 40+ club goals in 9 and 10 consecutive seasons (2009/10 – 2018/19).
- He also holds the record for being the only player to score 60+ club goals in 2 consecutive seasons (2011/12 and 2012/13).
- Last but not least, Messi is the only player player to score 30+ club goals in 13 consecutive seasons (2008/09 – 2020/21).
- Lionel Messi also holds the record for scoring the most goals (91) in a single calendar year, breaking the Bayern Munich icon Gerd Muller’s record in 2012.
- He also has the record of scoring the most goals in a season (50) in Europe’s top five leagues.
- Messi’s dominance in La Liga remains unparalleled! He is the outright top scorer of La Liga with 474 goals.
- Messi also has the most hat tricks (36) in the history of the Spanish league.
- He also has the most assists in La Liga history, amassing 192 assists.
- Messi also holds the record for scoring the most home goals (277) and the most away goals (197) in La Liga history.
- The 10-time La Liga winner also has the record for most assists (21) in a single La Liga season.
- He also has a record of scoring against the most different clubs scored against in La Liga history (37).
- He also is the only player player ever to score consecutively against all teams in a professional league.
- He also has won the most Pichichi trophies (8) for being the top scorer of the Spanish league in a season.
- Messi also remains the only player to score in seven different competitions for club and country in a single calendar year.
- He’s also the only player to score in six different club competitions in a season twice.
- Messi also has never been relegated from the UEFA Champions League to the UEFA Europa League in his career, unlike Cristiano Ronaldo.
- In fact, Messi also is the only player who has never been knocked out from any competition for club and country in the group stages.
- In the international arena, Lionel Messi also has his hands on some noteworthy records. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has won the Player of the Tournament award in every international tournament he has played in.
- In 2021, Messi made history by becoming the first player to win Best Player, Golden Boot, Most MOTMs and win the trophy in a major international tournament (Copa America).
- Messi also has the most goal contributions in major international tournaments (51).
- He also has the most man-of-the-match awards in major international tournaments with 25 awards (14 Copa America and 11 World Cup).
- He also has a record of providing the most assists (21) in major international tournaments.
- Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi faced each other in a Champions League final once in 2009. Messi’s FC Barcelona defeated Ronaldo’s Manchester United 2-0, with Messi scoring the second goal.
- A couple of years later, Messi’s FC Barcelona vanquished Ronaldo’s Real Madrid in the semifinals of the Champions League. A brilliant brace from Messi ensured FC Barcelona’s win in the first leg away from home.
- In penalty shootouts, Messi has a better record than Ronaldo. The Argentine has won eight of his 12 penalty shootouts, while Ronaldo has lost six of his 13 penalty shootouts.
- While Messi and Ronaldo aren’t acclaimed for their defending, Messi slightly edges Ronaldo in terms of their tackling ( Messi’s 0.65 tackles/90 minutes to Ronaldo’s 0.38 tackles/90 minutes) and interceptions (Messi’s 0.38 interceptions/90 minutes to Ronaldo’s 0.31 interceptions/90 minutes).
- Despite their obvious height difference, Messi once beat Ronaldo to a header during an international friendly between Argentina and Portugal.
- Moreover, Messi has managed to win the treble (La Liga, Copa Del Rey, and Champions League) twice in his career (2009,2015) unlike Ronaldo who hasn’t even won it once.
- Messi also was a part of the historic FC Barcelona side that won the sextuple (La Liga, Copa Del Rey, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and the Club World Cup) in 2009. Ronaldo, again, has never managed to win the sextuple.
- Besides the goal-scoring records and performances, Messi has built a reputation for having more sportsmanship spirit than Ronaldo.
- Red Cards: The former Real Madrid star has been sent off 11 times in his career, while Messi has been sent off only thrice.
- Ronaldo also got into trouble in 2022 when he assaulted a young fan and broke his phone while heading towards the dressing room. Messi, however, hasn’t ever been involved in such controversies.
- Ronaldo got caught in controversy yet again in 2016 when he assaulted a journalist and threw his microphone into a lake nearby. Messi, again, has never been accused of such violent behavior.
- Moreover, Messi is also considered to be much more of a team player than Ronaldo. Throughout his career, Messi has often given up his chances of scoring hat tricks to let his teammates score. On the other hand, Ronaldo showed his frustration when he failed to score but his teammates did.
- While Ronaldo has often admitted that he has a lot of respect for Messi, the former’s recent social media activity has proved to be contrary. Over the last couple of years, Ronaldo has often taken cheap shots to discredit Messi’s achievements.
- To further highlight Messi’s sportsmanship values, the 2022 World Cup winner has never publicly tried to belittle his teammates. However, Ronaldo went on record in 2016 to claim that if his teammates were up to his level, his side (then Real Madrid) would win everything.
- Moreover, Messi remains the only player to have ever received a standing ovation after winning the Ballon d’Or at the ceremony. Despite Ronaldo winning the award on five occasions, he has yet to be bestowed with this honor.
- Off-the-pitch, Messi holds the record of most appearances (12) on a videogame cover by a soccer player across multiple franchises.
- Messi also broke the record for shirt sales within the first 24 hours after he announced his decision to sign with Inter Miami.
- Interestingly, Messi has his memorabilia installed in a club that he hasn’t ever played for. There is reportedly a picture of Messi in the Manchester United dressing room, and his jersey is installed in Bayern Munich’s museum. Curiously, Ronaldo has never had such an incredible honor.
- Messi has also been often praised for his loyalty towards a single club, having spent more than two decades at FC Barcelona. Ronaldo, however, has never stayed at a single club for a long period.
- Not only Messi’s loyalty towards his club but his loyalty towards his wife is also highly appreciated. Messi is currently married to his childhood sweetheart Antonella Roccuzzo whom he has known since he was a child. Ronaldo, however, has had multiple affairs with several women before finally settling with his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez.
- Lastly, Lionel Messi also holds the record of having the most-liked picture on Instagram. Messi’s post after winning the World Cup 2022 broke the Internet and has amassed over 75 million likes.