Debate: Who is the greatest Footballer Messi or Ronaldo ?

Goals are perhaps the best determiner of the effectiveness of any footballer who plays as a forward or an attacking midfielder. The Messi vs Ronaldo stats show that they have over 1,500 goals between them, which is a phenomenal number in the history of the beautiful game.Messi is Argentina’s all-time highest goalscorer in World Cups with 13 goals, including the seven he scored at Qatar. He is also the world record holder of most appearances in men’s World Cup history with 26 caps.Overall, Messi has scored 98 goals for Argentina in 172 games and is the record holder for most international goals by a South American male footballer.At the club level, Messi holds the record for most goals in La Liga with 474. In total, including clubs and country, Messi has scored 793 goals in 1,003 appearances. He also has 350 assists to his name.

On the other hand, Ronaldo has scored 819 goals in 1,145 appearances for both club and country. The footballer has 234 assists to his name.Ronaldo is the top goalscorer in men’s international football with 118 goals for Portugal in 196 appearances. At the club level, he is also the all-time top goalscorer for La Liga team Real Madrid with 450 goals. He holds the record for most goals in the UEFA Champions League with 140.

However, Messi holds the Guinness World Record for most goals in a calendar year with 91 in 2012. Ronaldo’s highest in a calendar year is 69 goals.When the goal-scoring data is broken down into finer points, such as per-minute scoring, Messi apparently takes the lead.

According to messivsronaldo.app, a site dedicated to the statistics of the two giants of world football, Messi has scored a goal every 104 minutes, while Ronaldo has scored every 113 minutes across competitions for club and country in their respective careers.Messi is very slightly ahead of Ronaldo when it comes to goals per game; the former has recorded 0.79 goals per game, while the latter has 0.72 goals per game.

Messi is ahead of Ronaldo in terms of assists, which means that he has been directly involved in the goals scored by his teammates in clubs and Argentina’s national team than Ronaldo.

He is also way better than Ronaldo when it comes to dribbling and passing. This is not a surprise, since Messi has always been hailed as one of the greatest dribblers of all time since his academy days.

Ronaldo, on the other hand, has produced more goal-scoring opportunities for himself than Messi. While the former has produced a total of 3,447 shots on goal in the leagues and Champions League since the 2009-10 season, Messi has 2,843 shots only. But Messi has better accuracy with 47.63 percent of his shots on target compared to Ronaldo’s 41.14 percent.

When it comes to taking penalties and scoring from headers, Ronaldo has better figures.Ronaldo has a penalty conversion rate of 83 percent, compared to 78 percent. The former has scored 146 penalties and missed only 29 times whereas thelatter has scored 108 penalties and missed 31 times.It is also known that Ronaldo has a completely different playing style than that of Messi. This style is most evident in the aerial duels, of which Ronaldo has won 737 in the league and Champions League since the 2009-10 season. Messi has won just 114. Similarly, Ronaldo has scored 141 goals from headers in his career, while Messi has found the back of the net with his head on only 26 times.

So, who is the greatest of the two?

Several football pundits, current and former players have now said that the debate is over with Messi winning the FIFA World Cup in his last appearance in the most important tournament of the beautiful game.

But they both are greatest and we are blessed to have witnessed both of them in same era !!!