The longstanding debate for the bragging rights of the ‘GOAT’ title between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi appears to be settled after the Argentine’s World Cup glory. Messi reached the apex of his already illustrious career by lifting the coveted World Cup trophy last month in Qatar. The talismanic forward rather had it the hard way as his side threw the lead thrice in the final against France, to ultimately win it in the penalty shootout.
On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo was already home when his biggest rival played the World Cup final. Ronaldo’s Portugal was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Morocco, in a game which the 37-year-old was named on the bench. While winning the prestigious trophy proved to be the decider, some still opine that Ronaldo hasn’t lost any ‘GOAT’ battle despite failing to win the cup. And just in time, former Liverpool striker Michael Owen’s old comments have been dug out to support the claims.
When Owen chose Cristiano Ronaldo over Leo Messi owning to ‘different attributes’
Over the time, footballing legends have picked their sides in the GOAT debate concerning Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi. The two dominated football’s biggest tournaments and leagues for 15 years, sharing a stunning 12 Ballons d’Or between them. Ronaldo and Messi have collected a winners medal of almost every major trophy in Europe, as the former has left the continent for a new challenge with Saudi side Al Nassr, whereas the latter added the World Cup to his cabinet.
However, Liverpool legend Owen’s old comments have resurfaced in favour of Ronaldo, who according to the former England international is the greatest over Lionel Messi. Being a legendary striker himself, Owen had explained how the Portuguese fared better than his Argentine counterpart due to a ‘lot more different attributes’. Owen, who scored 222 goals in 482 games throughout his career playing for the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and real Madrid, had told BT Sport:
“Goalscoring is the hardest art in football, and Ronaldo makes it look so easy. Head, left foot, right foot. Messi is a decent header of a ball, but if you’re looking at all-round players, you go head-to-head with Messi and Ronaldo, you’d say Ronaldo has a lot more different attributes, let’s say. He’s probably always been quicker, right foot, left foot and header of a ball. I think Messi is outstanding in certain attributes, but as an all-round physique, Ronaldo is such an all-round player.”
While such arguments will be made from now onwards as well, there’s however no denying that Messi has got one over Ronaldo, with that World Cup trophy in his shelf. And at 37, it is almost out of question that Ronaldo tries to win the trophy with Portugal at the 2026 tournament, where his presence is highly unlikely. The opportunity has passed for the all-time leading international goalscorer, who could rather feature at the 2024 EUROs, but not the World Cup that follows a couple of years later.
Moreover, Ronaldo has left Europe, the continent with the highest level of competitiveness for Asia, with Saudi’s Al Nassr. The deal has made Cristiano Ronaldo the highest paid athlete the world has ever known, with the forward expected to walkaway with a staggering €500m in his pocket at the end of his tenure with the club in the summer of 2025. Meanwhile, Messi has begun his second-half of the season with PSG, and there are concrete reports that he is in talks with the club for a contract extension beyond this summer.