The Squawka Comparison Matrix allows you to compare up to five players or teams of your choice from across the world of football and a huge range of competitions over the last ten years.
Simply choose the players or teams you wish to compare and hit the ‘Edit Stats’ button and you can choose from a variety of different performance indicators. You’ll be able to opt to see basic stats such as goals scored and assists, or you can go far more in-depth to compare players on shot accuracy percentage, aerial duel success rate and ball recoveries among several others.
Messi vs Ronaldo: Career Statistics (2015/16–Present)
In the comparison above, we’ve chosen to compare Messi and Ronaldo’s stats from the 2017/2018 La Liga campaign, the last season in which they were both playing in the same domestic league competition. But the beauty of the Comparison Matrix is that you can compare up to five players, or five seasons at the same time, to see how the stats rack up.
At the time of writing, Ronaldo is on 938 competitive career goals, 800 of which have come in club competitions and 138 for his national side Portugal, a total that makes him the highest-scoring international player of all-time. Messi’s goal tally is currently at 783, an eye-watering 672 of which were scored in the red and blue shirt of Barcelona.
In terms of trophy hauls, Lionel Messi has won 42 major honours, including four Champions Leagues and famously one World Cup in 2022. Ronaldo’s total is 32, but he has won one more Champions League than his long-running rival, four with Real Madrid and one with Manchester United.
There’s also the small matter of the Ballon d’Or. Messi has a record eight to his name, the most recent coming in 2023, while Ronaldo has five – four of which came in a five year spell from 2013 to 2017.
Messi vs Ronaldo: 2024/25 season comparison
It’s much more difficult to compare these two players now that they are playing in different corners of the globe, with Lionel Messi plying his trade for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer, while Cristiano Ronaldo stars for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.
Unfortunately, we don’t have Saudi Pro League stats available in the Comparison Matrix as things stand, but we do know that Cristiano Ronaldo racked up 25 goals and three assists in the 2024/25 campaign as Jorge Jesus’ men finished in third place. That takes his total to 74 goals in 77 Saudi Pro League appearances since his move to Al-Awwal Park in 2023.
At the time of writing, the 2025 campaign is in full-swing in Major League Soccer and Messi is the joint-top scorer in the league with 16 goals from 16 appearances for Inter Miami so far this season. he also has six assists to his name and is averaging 5.1 shots per game and 87.6% pass completion. He’s on 56 goals in 66 appearances in all competitions for the Herons.
Messi vs Ronaldo Goals & Assists Comparison
You can use the Comparison Matrix above to compare these two global superstars season by season when it comes to goals and assists. Looking at the two seasons that we have the available stats for where the two players were competing in the same division, In 2015/2016, Ronaldo outscored Messi by a total of 35 goals to 26, although the Argentinian registered 16 assists in comparison to Ronaldo’s 11.
The following season, Messi came out on top in both statistics, scoring 37 La Liga goals and assisting nine, while Ronaldo managed 25 goals and six assists in his final campaign at Real Madrid.
Ronaldo’s last full season in European football was in the 2021/22 campaign, where he scored 18 goals for Manchester United and assisted three goals. Messi stayed in Europe for a further year and he managed both 16 goals and 16 assists in his final season with PSG in 2022/23 as les Parisiens lifted the Ligue 1 trophy.
Messi vs Ronaldo International Stats
On the international stage, Ronaldo’s individual achievements are undeniably impressive. He has scored more international goals than any other player with 138 for Portugal and that incredible goalscoring record has helped the Seleccao to win two Nations League titles and more importantly the Euro 2016 trophy, despite him sustaining an injury early on in the final of that tournament. 221 appearances for Portugal display his longevity and consistency and in addition to those 138 goals he’s also laid on an impressive 44 assists.
Messi is also approaching the 200 games mark for Argentina as he currently sits on 193 caps for the Albiceleste, with 112 goals to his name. He does however have the World Cup winners medal in his collection which has thus far evaded Cristiano Ronaldo, to go alongside two Copa Americas and the 2008 Olympics Gold. He’s managed more assists than his counterpart too, with 59 to his name so far.
Messi vs Ronaldo head-to-head record
Messi and Ronaldo have faced each other 36 times in total, with Messi and his teams winning 16, Ronaldo 11 and nine of the games ending in draws. Within those games, Ronaldo has offered just one assist to Messi’s 12, while Messi has narrowly outscored his rival with 22 goals to 21.
Real Madrid and Ronaldo were successful in only four of the 18 games where they faced Messi and Barcelona in La Liga. They’ve never met in a competitive international game, but the two friendlies they have played have yielded one win each.
Who is better, Messi or Ronaldo?
We’d never use the Comparison Matrix alone to answer a question as subjective as this and even without watching them as players, you can decide based on what metric you’d rather compare on. When it comes to goals, Cristiano Ronaldo is out in front of his long-running nemesis, but Messi leads on trophies, both individual and team.
The debate will rage on forever, in pubs, group chats and X threads across the globe, but at least you can compare their numbers easier than ever by using the Squawka Comparison Matrix to see the Ronaldo vs Messi stats in all their glory.