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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated football for the better part of the 21st century. The duo have 12 Ballon d'Or awards between them and are widely regarded as two of the greatest footballers of all time.
Ronaldo and Messi are now well into their 30s and while their powers have waned a little in recent times, they continue to be very good players. With the 2022 FIFA World Cup likely to be the pair's last outing at football's showpiece event, fans are hoping that the two players will have a memorable tournament.
The comparisons between Messi and Ronaldo will never end. The debate will rage on for eternity. But between the two GOATs of the game, who has fared better at the World Cup?
Without further ado, let's take a look at the statistical comparison between Ronaldo and Messi at FIFA World Cups.
#10 Appearances [Cristiano Ronaldo - 18, Lionel Messi - 21]
Lionel Messi wins this one. Messi led the Argentinian national side to the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Ronaldo's deepest run at the FIFA World Cup came in 2006 when he made it to the semi-finals.
#9 Goals [Cristiano Ronaldo - 8, Lionel Messi - 8]
We have a tie here with both the legends of the game having scored eight apiece at the World Cup. However, neither Ronaldo nor Messi have managed to score a single goal in the knockout stages despite having featured extensively at the World Cup.
#8 Assists [Cristiano Ronaldo - 2, Lionel Messi - 6]
Messi has always been the better playmaker between the two. As such, it comes as no surprise that he is way ahead of Ronaldo on the assists charts. Messi has assisted six goals while Ronaldo has assisted just two.
#7 Minutes per Goal/Assist [Cristiano Ronaldo - 156.1, Lionel Messi - 128..9]
Messi has 14 goal involvements in 21 appearances at the World Cup. Ronaldo has 10 goal involvements in 18 appearances. Messi wins this one as he has a better minutes per goals/assists ratio than his Portuguese counterpart.
#6 Hat-tricks [Cristiano Ronaldo - 1, Lionel Messi - 0]
Ronaldo scored a stunning hat-trick in Portugal's 2018 FIFA World Cup opener against Spain. It included a spectacular free-kick in the 88th minute of the game with which Ronaldo restored parity for his side.
Messi has never scored a hat-trick at the World Cup so far in his career.
#5 Penalties [Cristiano Ronaldo - 3, Lionel Messi 1]
Three of Ronaldo's eight goals at the World Cup have come from the spot. Ronaldo has converted three of the four penalties he has taken at the tournament. Meanwhile, Messi has scored one and missed one penalty at the World Cup.
#4 Free-kicks [Cristiano Ronaldo - 1, Lionel Messi - 1]
Both Ronaldo and Messi are renowned free-kick takers. Messi has definitely surpassed the Portuguese icon in recent times as he has simply mastered the art like no one else. Ronaldo was lethal with his free-kicks in the first half of his career. His effectiveness from dead-ball situations has reduced drastically of late.
#3 Successful dribbles [Cristiano Ronaldo - 36, Lionel Messi - 114]
Ronaldo has completed 36 successful dribbles at FIFA World Cups. It is a pretty impressive stat but it is dwarfed by the phenomenal numbers that Messi has put up in the dribbling department.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is one of the best dribblers the game has ever seen. He has completed a whopping 114 dribbles at World Cups.
#2 Key Passes [Cristiano Ronaldo - 22, Lionel Messi - 58]
Messi stands head and shoulders above most of his peers when it comes to chance creation courtesy of his ability to orchestrate play. Messi has a whopping 58 key passes while Ronaldo has registered 22.
#1 Man of the match awards [Cristiano Ronaldo - 7, Lionel Messi - 7]
Could this be the most telling stat of all? It definitely carries a lot of weight. Messi has been the standout performer in seven of the 21 games he has played at the World Cup. Ronaldo has been equally good. He has earned seven man-of-the-match awards on football's biggest stage.
However, Rolando's seven match-of-the-match awards in 18 games is a slightly better ratio than Messi's.
