It is widely agreed that the world of soccer has never witnessed a rivalry between two players sharing the stage for the game’s most prestigious awards that lasted for more than 15 years until the Ronaldo-Messi era.
The duo made their debuts on different occasions, clubs, country, and age.
- Barcelona, Juventus in separate deals for Arthur, Pjanic
- Ronaldo beats Messi, emerges first soccer billionaire
This, however, was not predicted to happen, but it did, that the two ‘Maestri’ stole the shows while impressing spectators around the world with consistency in scoring, assist, playmaking as well as winning trophies.
Pundits, analysts, and other soccer followers have had jaws dropped, shocked, and left with ‘no more words’ to describe Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in decades history of the sport.
They were jointly referred to as Greatest Of All Time (GOAT).
In his match against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, Messi joined his arch-rival in the 700 career goals milestone.
The following are 11 interesting facts you probably didn’t know about their careers;
Debuts
- Ronaldo made his debut in the Portuguese domestic league (Primeira Liga) at 17. He scored a brace in their 3-0 victory over Moreirense on 7th October 2002.
- Messi was 16 years, four months, and 23 days old when he made his senior debut against Porto on 16th November 2003.
Career Clubs
- Ronaldo played for Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and currently playing for Juventus in Serie A.
- Messi played his whole career to date in Barcelona. He progressed from the club’s academy (La Masia) to the senior team and never left for any club.
Club Goals Stats
- Ronaldo scored 629 club career goals as of Wednesday, July 1st, 2020. He scored 5 for Sporting, 118 for Manchester United, 450 for Real Madrid, and 56 for Juventus.
- Messi scored 641 club career goals as of Wednesday, July 1st, 2020. He scored 5 for Barcelona C, 6 for Barcelona B, and 630 for Barcelona.
Club Assist Stats
- Ronaldo provided a total of 193 club assists. He provided 6 in Sporting, 119 in Real Madrid, 54 in Manchester United, and 14 Juventus.
- Messi provided a total of 252 club assists for Barcelona.
Country Goals Stats
- Ronaldo scored 99 goals and provided 30 assists for his country Portugal.
- Messi scored 70 goals and provided 42 assists for his country Argentina.
Career hat tricks
- Ronaldo has scored a total of 56 career hat tricks, of which 47 for clubs and 9 for Portugal
- Messi has scored a total of 54 career hat tricks, of which 48 for Barcelona and 6 for Argentina.
Goal ratio
- Ronaldo scored 728 goals in 1005 matches with a scoring ratio of 0.75
- Messi scored 700 goals in 862 matches with a scoring ratio of 0.81
Club trophies
- Ronaldo has won 32 club trophies which include; 5 UEFA Champions League, 3 English Premier League, 3 La Liga, 2 Spanish Cup, 1 Italian Cup, 2 Copa Del Rey, 1 FA Cup, 3 European Super Cup, 2 England Community Shield, 2 Spanish Super Cup, 1 Italian Super Cup, 1 Portuguese Super Cup, 4 Club World Cup, and 2 EFL cup.
- Messi has won 34 club trophies which include; 4 UEFA Champions League, 10 La Liga, 6 Copa Del Rey, 3 European Super Cup, 8 Spanish Super Cup, and 3 Club World Cup.
International trophies
- Ronaldo won 2 international trophies which include 1 Euro Cup and UEFA Nations Cup.
- Messi has never won an international trophy but won Olympic gold medal
Individual awards
- Ronaldo won 5 FIFA Balon D’Ors, 4 Golden boots, 2 FIFA The Best, 1 FIFA World Player, 1 UEFA best club player of the year award, 3 UEFA best player in Europe, 3 Pichichi award, 1 Premier League Golden boot, 7 UCL top scorer award, 1 League player of the year, Serie A player of the year, Premier League Player of the year and 1 FIFA Puskas award.
- Messi won 6 FIFA Balon D’Ors, 6 Golden boots, 1 FIFA The Best, 1 FIFA World Player, 1 Golden Ball of the World Cup, 1 Copa America MVP, 1 UEFA best club player of the year award, 2 UEFA best player in Europe, 6 Pichichi award, 6 UCL top scorer award, 6 League player of the year, 12 Argentine Player of the Year award.
700 career goals
- Ronaldo scored his 700th career goal against Ukraine with a penalty.
- Messi scored his 700th career goal against Atletico Madrid with a penalty.
