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On June 3, Lionel Messi played his last game for Paris Saint-Germain against Clermont in France's Ligue Un. Now, with the 38-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo playing in Saudi Arabia, the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry, the best in the game's history, is probably ending at top level. But who won?
Goals seem a crude measure, but they're a good way to value forwards. Ronaldo leads slightly, but only because he scored more penalties. Messi is narrowly ahead on non-penalty goals after a shorter career. Add in assists, laying on goals for teammates, and it's clear, Messi is the greater player. Whereas Ronaldo is merely a brilliant goal scorer, Messi is two in one, brilliant scorer and brilliant provider.
Both sustained their greatness for nearly 20 years, which is unprecedented. They benefited from improved nutrition, training, and a crackdown on violent fouls. Messi has won more individual and team honours then Ronaldo, but we shouldn't overinterpret Messi winning the World Cup, especially because Argentina has more than four times Portugal's population and Ronaldo was 37 in Qatar.
But note that Argentina is the only non-European country even to reach the podium, the top three places, in the last five World Cups. That's how special Messi is. He can beat the best Europeans. Had Messi and Ronaldo quit around 2019 their careers would still have dwarfed all their predecessors. In almost any other era Ronaldo would have been the best.
Lewandowski and Benzema also benefited from unprecedented longevity, scoring into their mid-thirties. Over their careers they too have now outscored all past greats. Mbappe and Haaland are rising, but the best young player ever was arguably Ronaldo Fenomeno, the Brazilian. True, he scored his early goals in the Brazilian and Dutch leagues, but at a time when those leagues were relatively strong. Ronaldo then suffered several serious injuries, which blighted his career. He still won a World Cup. Without injuries, could he have outshone Messi?
