Who Is More Influential With Higher Career Goals, Messi or Ronaldo?
Football is one of the most popular sports in the world, if not the most popular one. Football teams and football players have armies of fans around the world that regard this sport as a religion. The perfect recipe for becoming a popular footballer is being skilled on the field and having an interesting personality off the pitch.
A detailed look at how many goals Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have scored in their careers and who is more influential among the two football legends.
The two are on the list of the best players in history, especially for their influence on the game. Although, as is usually said, the stats and especially, the goals are vital……..Continue Reading
The Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi stats reveals that it has been undoubtedly the biggest rivalry in modern football. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated world football for more than a decade now.
While Portuguese superstar Ronaldo made his professional debut for Sporting in 2002, Argentine talisman Messi took the world football by storm when he made his senior debut for La Liga giants Barcelona in 2004.
The Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi debate first became the biggest conundrum in football during the 2007-08 season. Both the football megastars were nominated for the prestigious Ballon d’Or in 2007. Interestingly, Kaka pipped Ronaldo and Messi to claim the coveted award that year. Meanwhile, Ronaldo finished second with 277 votes while Messi came third with 255 votes.
However, after Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi would go on to dominate the Ballon d’Or in the next 10 years.
Playing for Manchester United, Ronaldo (446 votes) claimed his first Ballon d’Or in 2008 after he edged second-placed Messi (281 votes).
In 2009, former Barcelona forward Messi took his revenge as he bagged his maiden Ballon d’Or by beating Ronaldo with 250 votes.
Since then, Messi won the Ballon d’Or in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, and 2021. On the other hand, Ronaldo clinched the Ballon d’Or in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017.
Furthermore, Messi has six European Golden Shoes while Ronaldo has won four of them.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi stats
Who Is More Influential With Higher Career Goals, Messi or Ronaldo?
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi Ballon d’Or
Cristiano Ronaldo: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017
Lionel Messi: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi European Golden Shoes
Cristiano Ronaldo : 2007-08, 2010-11, 2013-14, 2014-15
Lionel Messi : 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19
In his illustrious career, Cristiano Ronaldo has represented four clubs namely Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus. Ronaldo has netted 699 club goals and provided 221 assists in 941 appearances so far.
Lionel Messi, on the other hand, spent most of his professional career at Barcelona before moving to Paris Saint-Germain. During his 19-year-long career, Messi has scored 689 club goals in just 823 matches. He has also recorded 326 assists.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi goals at the club level
Cristiano Ronaldo
941 appearances
699 goals
221 assists
Lionel Messi
823 appearances
689 goals
326 assists
Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for the most goals in the UEFA Champions League. Ronaldo has scored a staggering 140 goals in 183 appearances in Europe’s biggest football competition so far. Along with 140 goals, the Manchester United footballer has registered 48 assists.
Messi is second on the list with 126 goals in 158 appearances. He has recorded 42 assists in his UCL career.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi goals in UEFA Champions League
Cristiano Ronaldo
183 Appearances
140 Goals
48 Assists
Lionel Messi
158 Appearances
126 Goals
42 Assists
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi rivalry was at its peak during their stay in La Liga. Real Madrid’s Ronaldo and their arch-rival FC Barcelona’s Messi competed for club titles and personal awards between 2009 and 2018.
While Messi owns the record for most goals for a single club, having scored an astonishing 474 goals in 520 appearances, Ronaldo also showed his greatness as he scored a staggering 311 goals in 292 appearances for Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi goals in La Liga
Cristiano Ronaldo
292 Appearances
311 Goals
95 Assists
520 Appearances
474 Goals
216 Assists
Cristiano Ronaldo made his FIFA World Cup debut for Portugal in their 1-0 win over Angola at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany in 2006. During their second group D match, Ronaldo converted a penalty kick to score his first World Cup goal against Iran.
Since then, Ronaldo has appeared in three more FIFA World Cups in 2010, 2014, and 2018. He has scored seven goals and provided two assists in 17 matches so far.
On the other hand, Lionel Messi became the youngest player to represent Argentina when he came on as a substitute against Serbia and Montenegro during a FIFA World Cup match in 2006. He scored a goal as well as registered an assist in their 6-0 win.
Messi also played a major role for Argentina in three more editions of the FIFA World Cup in 2010, 2014 and 2018. The Rosario-born footballer has netted six goals and recorded five assists in 19 World Cup appearances so far.
While Messi reached the 2014 FIFA World Cup final before losing 0-1 to Germany, Ronaldo reached the Round of 16 with Portugal in the 2010 and 2018 editions.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi goals in FIFA World Cups
Cristiano Ronaldo
292 Appearances
311 Goals
95 Assist
Lionel Messi
520 Appearances
474 Goals
216 Assists
Cristiano Ronaldo also holds the record for the most goals in international football. Having represented the Portugal national football team since making his debut in 2003, Ronaldo has scored 117 goals in 189 appearances along with providing 42 assists so far.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi is the leading goalscorer in international football from South America. Playing for the Argentina national football team, Messi has scored 86 goals in 162 appearances. He has also recorded 51 assists so far.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi goals in international football
Cristiano Ronaldo
189 Appearances
117 Goals
42 Assists
Lionel Messi
162 appearances
86 goals
51 assists
Who Is More Influential With Higher Career Goals, Messi or Ronaldo?
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo made his FIFA World Cup debut for Portugal in their 1-0 win over Angola at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany in 2006. During their second group D match, Ronaldo converted a penalty kick to score his first World Cup goal against Iran.
Since then, Ronaldo has appeared in three more FIFA World Cups in 2010, 2014 and 2018. He has scored seven goals and provided two assists in 17 matches so far.
On the other hand, Lionel Messi became the youngest player to represent Argentina when he came on as a substitute against Serbia and Montenegro during a FIFA World Cup match in 2006. He scored a goal as well as registered an assist in their 6-0 win.
Messi also played a major role for Argentina in three more editions of the FIFA World Cup in 2010, 2014 and 2018. The Rosario-born footballer has netted six goals and recorded five assists in 19 World Cup appearances so far.
While Messi reached the 2014 FIFA World Cup final before losing 0-1 to Germany, Ronaldo has reached the Round of 16 with Portugal in the 2010 and 2018 editions.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi goals in FIFA World Cups
Cristiano Ronaldo
17 Appearances
7 Goals
2 Assists
Lionel Messi
19 Appearances
6 Goals
5 Assists
Overall, Cristiano Ronaldo has more career goals than Lionel Messi currently. While Ronaldo has netted 816 goals in 1130 matches, Messi has scored 775 goals in 984 games.
Cristiano Ronaldo 2002-present
1130 Matches
816 goals
0.72 Average
Lionel Messi 2004-present
984 Matches
775 goals
0.78 Average
However, Lionel Messi has won more trophies than Cristiano Ronaldo across various football competitions for club and country. While Messi has claimed 41 trophies in his career, Ronaldo has clinched 34 titles so far.
Messi’s 41 trophies include ten La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, four UEFA Champions Leagues, and the Copa America title. Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s trophy cabinet comprises seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, and the UEFA European Championship.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi trophies
Cristiano Ronaldo = 34 Trophies
Lionel Messi = 41 Trophies
Who is more influential between Ronaldo and Messi
Today, the popularity of football players has reached unimaginable heights thanks to social media networks and the fact that they can reach out to a lot more people. The two most famous players at this moment are, without a doubt, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
But who is more popular? Is Cristiano Ronaldo indeed better known and more loved as his fans claim? Let’s try to figure it out.
Who are their fans?
We already know that Ronaldo and Messi have hundreds of millions of fans around the world. But who are they and where do they come from? This infographic created by a website called Betting-Sites could tell us more about it.
Messi and Ronaldo are best known in South America. This is not a big surprise since Messi was born in Argentina, and Ronaldo was born in Portugal, a country that has a lot in common with Brazil. Thus, it makes sense that 99% of Brazilians know who Ronaldo is and 99% of Argentinians know who Messi is.
On the contrary, they seem to be the least popular in the United States. European football is not that popular here, so this is something we expect to see. Nevertheless, Ronaldo is still more important in the US, as 40% of Americans know who he is, as opposed to 30% of Americans who know about Lionel Messi.
Worldwide, Ronaldo seems to be the more popular athlete as well. Data shows that 92% of people heard about Ronaldo, compared to 87% who heard about Messi. Moreover, Ronaldo seems to be more popular among women, as 91% of them heard about him whereas 84% know about Messi.
Social media profiles
We live in an age in which social media profiles play an important role in our lives. This is even more true for celebrities who use their social media channels to communicate with fans and promote their sponsors.
By taking another look at the available data, we can see that Cristiano Ronaldo is more successful at this game than Messi. Ronaldo has a total of 319 million followers across the three most popular platforms — Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Messi, on the other hand, has only 181 million followers. This number is still impressive, but it doesn’t come close to that of Ronaldo’s.
Moreover, Ronaldo’s fans seem to be more eager to communicate with him on social media and let him know how much they care. For example, his most popular Instagram post has around 11.3 million likes and 157,000 comments.
By contrast, Messi’s most popular Instagram post has 6.4 million likes and 52,000 comments.
Conclusion
After taking a look at the stats, it is safe to say that Cristiano Ronaldo is definitely more popular than Lionel Messi. However, that does not mean that he is the better player as well, which is a topic for another occasion.
It only means that he puts more money, effort, and resources into building his popularity, and this tactic is obviously paying off.
