World Cup USA 2026 represents the last opportunity for two of the game’s GOATs to light up the world stage. No one has shone more brightly or for longer than these two. But who’s the best in this long, occasionally bitter rivalry? We’re here to present the case without making a final judgment. That’s for soccer’s Supreme Court.
Lionel Messi has long been a global superstar. Embracing the glitz of Inter Miami has made him an even more bankable product in what is no longer just “the beautiful game” but a global business—one in which he has already racked up $1 billion in lifetime earnings.
A short rundown of Messi’s career is filled with superlatives and awards. Signed to Barcelona at 13, he went on to win 10 La Liga titles, seven Copa del Reys, seven Spanish Super Cups, four Champions Leagues, three UEFA Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups. Winning the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and scoring in the final was the icing on the cake.
Then, let’s look at Messi’s skill set. Weak points: He’s 5-feet-7-inches tall, and he’s not renowned for his tackling. The pluses: a first touch like a pillow, the way he runs with the ball glued to his foot, the speed of thought, the 360- degree vision and the ice-cool finishing. Has anyone casually flipped a ball over a charging keeper as often as he has? Temperamentally, he is markedly different from Cristiano Ronaldo. Both have unshakable confidence, but Messi rarely loses his cool. He is quiet, focused and leads by example.
“He’s the best player to ever play this sport. He’s a leader, and as a leader, he inspires others, but he also often needs to be inspired himself,” Inter coach Javier Mascherano said of Messi.
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Messi and Ronaldo have tangled 36 times in competitive matches for club and country, with Messi ahead of his rival with five more victories (16), a gap unlikely to be closed. He’s a goal ahead too.
Messi trails Ronaldo’s career goals but currently leads him in non-penalty goals (786 vs. 778) and free kicks (70 vs. 64). In World Cups, Messi has 13 goals, Ronaldo just five, but then Argentina tends to go deeper in tournaments.
His participation in the USA has been the source of some speculation. He turns 39 mid-tournament and has previously stated that he does not want to be a “burden” to Argentina if not fully match-sharp. Burden? He was kidding, right?
Messi is already the all-time leading appearance-maker at World Cup finals, with 26 matches so far. We’re betting he extends that run, and number of scores, but we’re not expecting many takers.
Fans know him as CR7, which sounds like a machine — and he is.
Born in Madeira, he arrived in Manchester as a teenager, and he delighted fans with dazzling displays of dribbling down the right wing, full of stepovers, sharp turns and flicks. The end product wasn’t always there, but Alex Ferguson fine-tuned his gifts and turned him into a lethal force.
The goals came in torrents: right foot, left, free kicks, overhead kicks and headers. He won the 2008 Champions League, three domestic titles and one FA Cup at Old Trafford.
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“Cristiano was the most gifted player I managed. He surpassed all the other great ones I coached at United,” said his boss.
His 2009 move to Real Madrid for $94 million made him the most expensive player in history. He became the club’s all-time leading goal scorer and boasts the most goals scored by a Madrid player in a single season (61). Today, he is closing in on 1,000 for clubs and country.
Trophies and awards have continued to pile up: four European Cups and five Ballons d’Or — three fewer than Messi, which bugs him. At least his former Los Blancos manager Zinedine Zidane has no doubts: “The numbers don’t lie. The statistics speak for themselves. Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the history of football.”
A 2023 move to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia has given him an Indian (Arab?) summer, and he is still scoring into his forties.
The record-making continues for his national team. Ronaldo is the first player to reach 200 international appearances; he’s also Portugal’s most capped player and was voted best player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation.
He shot them to fourth at the FIFA World Cup in 2006, becoming captain in 2008, but his crowning moment came in 2016 when Portugal stunned hosts France in the final of the Euros. There, inevitably, Ronaldo was the all-time leading scorer. Yet another triumph was the defeat of the Netherlands in the inaugural Nations League finals, a feat he repeated in 2025. He now stands on 143 goals for his country, a record unlikely to ever fall.
Temperamentally, he is diametrically opposite to Messi. He wears his heart on his shirt sleeve: He is emotional, often moved to anger, even tears. Because he wants to win so badly.
Messi vs. Ronaldo: How do you separate them? It would be like picking between Michael Jordan and Lebron James or Ford vs. Ferrari or pitting Federer against Nadal.
Let’s just enjoy them while we have them.
TV Guide Magazine’s 2026 World Cup Preview Special Issue is available for order online now at worldcup.tvgm2026.com and for purchase on newsstands nationwide.
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