Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Records, goals and trophies won compared

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have brought so much joy to our television screens for the majority of their careers and for the best part of 15 years, at least, and their media and fan-fuelled rivalry has been a fascinating one to watch.

Both born with natural talent and a never say die attitude, Messi and Ronaldo have plundered ridiculous numbers throughout their careers and have smashed every record they have come face-to-face with.

Countless trophies have also been one and they have played at the highest level for quite some time now, and even as they get older, they still dominate world football.

Manchester United 's Ronaldo has proven himself in three different leagues in three different countries, while Messi was a constant mainstay at Barcelona before his summer move to PSG, yet no matter where they’ve been, they’ve never let anyone down.

Here is all you need to know about their incredible careers and the success they’ve had.

Messi has always bled the colours of Barcelona and after coming through the academy ranks, he went on to spend the first 17 years of his career at the Catalan club, going on to make a total of 778 appearances across all competitions that began with his debut in 2004-05 and ended with his final game in 2020-21.

He made the most appearances during the 2011-12 season, playing in a total of 60 games in all competitions.

Since his ground-breaking transfer to PSG during the summer, it took a little while for Messi to come into the fold but he has since made 21 appearances for the French club - 14 in Ligue 1, one in the Coupe de France and six in the Champions League.

Ronaldo has been around for slightly longer than Messi has, what with being two-years older than his rival, and has