Who is the greatest? It’s Ronaldo all day long for me. Love the bloke. He works harder for the team and does a lot for charity outside of football too. That free kick was sublime.
Apart from Shola? Always preferred and thought Messi ....but Ronaldo last 3-4 yrs is changing my mind. Still loves me some Gerd Muller and Johan Cruyff though
Favourites of all time for me are Pele and Cryuff. For goal scorers did really like Van Basten a lot.
I'd go Ronaldo due to his power. Not sure about how hard he works for the team, Messi is definitely more the team player
I wouldn't agree. Messi is VERY good at playing as part of a team that are set up to make the most of his insane levels of skill. For Argentina he finds it much more difficult. Ronaldo single handedly drags Portugal through some games and has done the same for Real plenty also. He also gets back and defends set pieces loads as he is a beast in the air. His winning mentality makes him the best for me. When he stepped over that free kick today you just knew he was going to make it. So good in the big moments.
Messi can't do what Ronaldo can do in terms of being exceptional in all aspects of the game. But, Nobody can do what Messi can do in terms of individual skill. I've never seen anybody do what Messi does with the ball at his feet. You can please yourself as to which you place greater value on. Both are great players.
They are indeed - however, Messi can only do it with high quality players around him. Ronaldo can do it no matter whom is around him. To me that is the main difference.
# Name Nation Confederation International goals Caps Goals per match Career span 1 Ali Daei please log in to view this image Iran AFC 109 149 0.73 1993–2006 2 Ferenc Puskás please log in to view this image Hungary please log in to view this image Spain UEFA 84 89 0.94 1945–1962 3 Cristiano Ronaldo please log in to view this image Portugal UEFA 84 151 0.56 2003– 4 Kunishige Kamamoto please log in to view this image Japan AFC 80 84 0.95 1964–1977 5 Godfrey Chitalu please log in to view this image Zambia CAF 79 108 0.71 1968–1980 6 Hussein Saeed please log in to view this image Iraq AFC 78 137 0.57 1977–1990 7 Pelé please log in to view this image Brazil CONMEBOL 77 91 0.85 1957–1971 [3] 8 Sándor Kocsis please log in to view this image Hungary UEFA 75 68 1.10 1948–1956 Bashar Abdullah please log in to view this image Kuwait AFC 75 134 0.56 1996–2018 10 Kinnah Phiri please log in to view this image Malawi CAF 71 115 0.62 1973–1981 Majed Abdullah please log in to view this image Saudi Arabia AFC 71 116 0.61 So Ali’s the best ever then?
Ronaldo is the whole package who's done it in 3 leagues and with his international team. Messi can dribble but has the best team of a generation behind him and done nothing at international level. Sporting CP Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2002 Manchester United[550][551] Premier League: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 FA Cup: 2003–04 Football League Cup: 2005–06, 2008–09 FA Community Shield: 2007 UEFA Champions League: 2007–08 FIFA Club World Cup: 2008 Real Madrid[551] La Liga: 2011–12, 2016–17 Copa del Rey: 2010–11, 2013–14 Supercopa de España: 2012, 2017 UEFA Champions League: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 UEFA Super Cup: 2014, 2017 FIFA Club World Cup: 2014, 2016, 2017 Portugal UEFA European Championship: 2016
His Personal records... World Most (FIFA) Ballon d'Or awards: 5 (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) (shared with Lionel Messi) Most World Soccer Player of the Year awards: 5 (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) Most IFFHS World's Best Top Goal Scorer awards: 4 (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) The most expensive footballer in history: 2009–2013[590] Most FIFA Club World Cup or Intercontinental Cup (football) trophies: 4 (shared with Toni Kroos) Top goalscorer in the history of FIFA Club World Cup or Intercontinental Cup (football): 7 goals (shared with Pelé)[591] Most FIFA Club World Cup final goals: 4 (shared with Lionel Messi) Only player to have scored at three FIFA Club World Cup tournaments: 2008, 2016, 2017 (shared with Lionel Messi) Only player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA Club World Cup or Intercontinental Cup final (in 2016; shared with Pelé) Most appearances in the FIFPro World XI: 11 times (2007–2017) (shared with Lionel Messi)[592] Only player who has scored in 8 consecutive major international tournaments: the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 editions of the European Championship; and the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 editions of the World Cup[593] First footballer to reach 40 goals in a professional league for two consecutive seasons[594] Only player to score 50 goals or more in six different seasons (done consecutively) Only player to score 50 goals or more in 7 consecutive calendar years Only player in history to have scored 60 or more goals in a calendar year four times (consecutively from 2011 to 2014) Continental Most career goals in Europe's top six leagues: 394 goals Most goals scored in all UEFA competitions: 152 goals Most goals scored in European competitions (club football): 123 goals (including UEFA Super Cup and Champions League qualifiers) Most goals scored in the UEFA Champions League: 120 goals[595][596] Most assists in the UEFA Champions League: 34 assists[597] Most goals scored in a UEFA Champions League/European Cup season: 17 goals in 2013–14[208] Most hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League: 7 (shared with Lionel Messi) Most goals scored in the UEFA European Championship, including qualifying: 29 goals, for Portugal[371] Most goals scored in UEFA European Championship and European FIFA World Cup qualifiers: 50 goals[598] Most European Golden Shoe awards: 4 (shared with Lionel Messi) Most UEFA Best Player in Europe awards: 4 (2008, 2014, 2016 and 2017) Most goals scored in European World Cup Qualifiers: 30 goals Spain Most hat-tricks in La Liga history: 34[599] Most goals scored in Madrid Derby matches: 18[267][268] Only player to reach 30 goals in six consecutive La Liga seasons[600] Most teams scored against in a season (2012–13): 19 (shared with Ronaldo Nazário and Lionel Messi)[601] Most La Liga hat-tricks in a season: 8 hat-tricks (shared with Lionel Messi) England Most Premier League Player of the Season Awards: 2 (shared with Nemanja Vidić and Thierry Henry)[602] Real Madrid Real Madrid all-time top goalscorer: 438 goals[603] Top goalscorer in La Liga: 301 goals[604] Top goalscorer in UEFA Champions League: 102 goals[605] Most assists in La Liga: 84 assists[606] Most assists in UEFA Champions League: 23 assists[607] Most goals scored in seven consecutive league matches: 15 goals[608]
Messi is better all round. He always gets more assists and often gets more goals. Ronaldo is better at long distance shots, a better aerial threat and is faster over a longer distance. Every other department messi is better. Better personality, better dribbler, faster over shorter distance, better short and long range passer, better vision, better short range finisher, more consistent set piece taker, works harder, more consistent in general.