OPINION

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By Harrison Bray

Brazil’s Pelé in 1970. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Diego Maradona in 1986. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

One of the most heated debates in soccer is about who is the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT). This tough debate really started during the emergence of both Argentinian Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo as soccer superstars in the last ten years. Before this, almost all soccer fans would agree that the only names in contention were Brazil’s Pelé and Argentina’s Diego Maradona. With the new, more complicated debate, there are many more perspectives and opinions. 

The use of individual stats, such as appearances, goals, and assists, holds plenty of weight in the discussion. Some other factors also include team accomplishments, such as titles and trophies won. 

There is also the method of just looking at gameplay and highlights when determining who is the better player when you put stats aside. This way tends to bring in the most subjective opinions.

Ronaldo and Messi in 2011. Photo credit: Fanny Shertzer via Wikimedia Commons.

When combining all the categories together, Messi comes out ahead in every way. If you first look at Messi compared to his main competitor in the debate, Ronaldo, you clearly see that Messi outshines him all around. When looking at total goals, both in club and international play, Ronaldo has a total of 834 goals and 236 assists in his 1159 appearances. While these are incredible numbers, let’s take a look at Messi. Messi has 805 goals and 355 assists in his 1021 appearances. Messi has managed to score almost as many goals in over a hundred fewer games, and at the age of only 35, compared to Ronaldo’s 38. Messi has also managed to assist well over a hundred more goals than Ronaldo. We can also look at the ratio of minutes played to goals. With this, we see that Messi scores approximately one goal every 104 minutes. Ronaldo scores about every 113 minutes. 

You can also look at more specific stats, such as the number of Man of the Match awards, which is much like an MVP award in American sports, or average match rating. Throughout Messi’s career, he has amassed a total of 313 Man of the Match awards. As this award sounds, it is given to the player who had the most significant impact or effect on a game. This means that Messi has been the most influential player on the field about 30 percent of the time, across 1000 matches. That is just insane consistency and talent. 

On the contrary, Ronaldo has only received 172 Man of the Match awards. This is roughly a 15 percent rate across all of his matches. Between the two, we can see just how much more Messi contributes to his teams’ victories. Messi has won almost double the amount and has a significantly higher winning rate of winning. 

Cristiano Ronaldo. Photo credit: @CristianoRonaldo Instagram.

Along with the Man of the Match award, we can look at the average match rating of both players. At the end of each soccer match, all the players that competed are given a rating. This number is out of 10, with 10 being the best possible somebody can play, and a low number meaning they played poorly. Messi has an average rating of roughly 8.55, which is the highest average of any player in the world. Ronaldo, on the other hand, only has an average of 7.96 and doesn’t even place in the top five players in terms of ratings. Messi has also achieved the 10 out of 10 rating roughly 120 times. That means he has had that many games with flawless performance.

If stats aren’t enough to convince you that Messi is the undisputed GOAT of the sport of soccer, then let’s move on to individual trophies. One of the most prestigious awards in the sport is the Ballon D’or. This is an award that is presented to the best player over the previous year. Both Messi and Ronaldo have won this, but Messi tops Ronaldo again, winning it seven times, compared to Ronaldo’s five. Messi was also able to win the award four years in a row— 2009-2012— along with 2015, 2019 and 2021. Messi has also won the FIFA World Player of the Year award a staggering seven times in comparison to Ronaldo’s five. So when looking at these individual awards, Messi defeats Ronaldo. 

Lionel Messi in 2022. Photo credit: Hossein Zohrevand via Wikimedia Commons.

There are also the trophies that they have won with their teams. Both players are very accomplished in both club and international play, but there are a few trophies that Messi has accomplished and Ronaldo hasn’t. In the world of soccer, the most sought-after trophy would have to be the World Cup. Messi has been able to make the World Cup finals two times in his career. In 2014, Messi fell just short, even winning the Golden Ball award, which is given to the MVP of the tournament. In 2022, Messi was able to make the finals again and win this time. Ronaldo has failed to even make the finals. Messi was also able to win gold while playing for Argentina at the Olympics in 2008, at the age of 20.

After looking at all these different stats and trophies, it is clear that Messi is a much stronger player. He has proven that he excels at scoring and assisting. Messi also proved that he can win with both club and country. He has the better resumé and consistency to prove that he is the best player to touch the sport of soccer.