Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are considered to be the greatest players in 21st century football history. The pair have won countless team trophies and individual honours. They also spent nine seasons in the prime of their careers facing off regularly against each other, while representing rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The pair also share a mutual respect for each other, as revealed in interviews. Ronaldo has also revealed in the past that their rivalry motivated him to get better.
Recently, Messi broke his silence on his relationship with the Portugal international. Speaking to D Sports at the sidelines of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, he said, “I hold a deep respect and admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo and everything he has achieved in his career, and continues to achieve, as he’s still performing at an elite level.”
“Our rivalry was purely on the pitch, driven by our desire to give everything for our respective teams. Off the field, we’re just ordinary people. While we’re not friends in the traditional sense, as we don’t socialize, there has always been mutual respect between us,” he added.
Messi and Ronaldo have 79 trophies in total (Messi has bagged 45 and Ronaldo 34) during their senior careers so far, and have also consistently broken the 50-goal barrier in a single season.
Also, according to IFFHS, they are the only two players to score over 800 goals each in their careers for club and country. Ronaldo also holds the record for most official goals in a career.
Their rivalry has also been compared to other rivalries like Ali-Frazier, Prost-Senna, Djokovic-Nadal and Federer-Nadal.
Messi is La Liga’s all-time top goal-scorer, and also has the most assists in the competition’s history. Meanwhile, Ronaldo is second for goals scored and is fourth for assists provided, and is also the Champions League all-tme top appearance maker, goalscorer and second-highest in assists after Ryan Giggs.
Messi is third in appearances and assits provided and in second for goals scored in the competition’s history. Ronaldo also has the records for most international caps and most international goals, with Messi ranked eleventh in appearances and third for goals scored.
