I’ve seen this image popping up and thought it needed debunking all in one place.

This is my best thread on the Messi and Ronaldo debate yet so any likes & retweets are appreciated. Here’s we go:

Starting off with Ballondor’s. It is 6-5 to Messi.

Ballondor/FIFA The Best is a shameless award which changes it’s criteria to keep Messi ahead, which is why it should not be used as an objective measure:

Ronaldo should have won Ballondor 2018.

- Europe’s top scorer with 54
- UCL (played all of it unlike Modric)
- UCL consecutive goals record (11)
- More UCL goals in a campaign than any other player (15)
- Same assists as Modric
- Higher La Liga G/G than Messi
- 1.0 G/G in WC

No smoke to Modric, but Ronaldo clearly deserved it. He only didn’t win because of non-footballing reasons, this being he had an allegation during the campaign and voter fatigue.

A Ballondor voter tweeted saying she snuffed him as “it’s hard to vote for a rapist”

Modric only won because Ronaldo was about to go 6-5 ahead. Messi journalists tactically voted to prevent this.

Messi always finishes top 2 - and then he suddenly finishes 5th? It’s no coincidence. That or he wasn’t top 4, so he doesn’t have the same consistency as Ronaldo.

Moving on to 2019. Messi marginally won FIFA The Best ahead of Van Dijk.

This was extremely dodgy, as many voters came forward and said that they hadn’t voted for Messi despite FIFA saying they had.

FIFA The Best & Ballondor are pretty much interchangeable, they used to be linked and even when not they have had the same winner in recent times.

It’s fair to say: the manipulation of FIFA The Best lead to an award which affected the Ballondor voters.

Ronaldo definitely should have had 2018. Van Dijk could have won 2019, which would make it 6-5. At best case scenario for Messi, 6-6.

However, this also doesn’t consider 14/15. Ronaldo was undoubtedly the better individual than Messi this season:

Ronaldo had the 2nd highest golden boot in history. He had the highest overall goals and assists that season. He had more UCL KO goals and assists than Messi despite playing less games.

Barcelona’s treble was a result of MSN, not Messi alone.

If Messi wins Ballondor 2012 despite not winning a major/league trophy because of good individual numbers, than Ronaldo should win Ballondor 2015 instead of Messi as he was the better individual.

The way CR7 has always been the best inividual in his wins.

Let’s see what happens if Ballondor stays consistent. If the best individual always wins:

2015: Messi —> Ronaldo
2018: Modric —> Ronaldo
2019: Argument for Messi —> Van Dijk

Ronaldo leads 7-5 if Van Dijk doesn’t win, or 7-4 if he does.

If it goes to the best player who won a major trophy like what happened in 2015:

2010: Messi —> Iniesta/Sneijder
2012: Messi —> Iniesta/Xavi/Drogba
2013: Ronaldo —> Ribéry
2018: Modric —> Ronaldo
2019: Messi —> Van Dijk

Ronaldo leads 5-3.

The only defence a Messi fan can have now is “if France Football changed their criteria so that this happened, then we must trust them”

Well, France Football also awarded Pele 7 Ballondor’s (when they were linked to FIFA) which is more than Messi’s 6.

Moving onto Golden Boots. Have you ever noticed Messi fans constantly mention goals per game until Golden Boots get mentioned?

In all 4 of Ronaldo’s Golden Boots he had a higher G/G than Messi. The same isn’t true for Messi in his golden boot wins.

In Messi’s 17/18 Golden Boot he had 34 in 36 games with a ratio of 0.94.

In this season, Ronaldo had 26 in 27, meaning he had a ratio of 0.96.

If it weren’t for injuries and resting the EASIEST games, Ronaldo could have had this golden boot making it 5-5.

Considering Ronaldo’s done that in 3 leagues, played in the easiest league at an older age than Messi, the credit goes all of his way.

If a Messi fan wants to argue G/G isn’t relevant, then Ronaldo has more goals and Messi doesn’t have a touch on him as top scorer.

Furthermore, find it funny how Messi fans mention IFFHS Playmaking awards, but use Golden Boot rather than IFFHS Top Scorer?

IFFHS Top Scorer is the award for the most goals in the world that season, including other competitions and national team, not just the league.

The reason Messi fans don’t mention it, is because Ronaldo leads 5-2.

Messi leads in the playmaking award, but there isn’t a mathematical criteria to winning like Top Scorer, it’s yet another popularity award.

Now, the infamous Laureus award. No one had even heard of it until Messi won it.

Once again, it’s a popularity contest, and not even a footballing award. How can you judge a footballer against players of a different sport and it consider it a serious footballing award?

Moving on, footballer’s opinions don’t make one of Ronaldo or Messi better on the pitch than the other.

If you want to argue more have said Messi, then you can argue the better ones (Zidane, Mourinho, Pele) have all said Ronaldo.

At the end of the day, both are irrelevant. Opinions don’t happen on the pitch, and opinions can be not properly informed.

In fact, footballers are less likely to watch as many of their games and know the precise stats as they’re much busier people than fans.

Now, moving onto Ronaldo’s claims. We’ll start with the three shown.

The argument is not that he has won international trophies - it’s that he’s the better international player than Messi. Most would agree, but if you don’t check my pinned post. A highlight:

As for trophies themselves and the ridiculous Mustafi claim: There’s a difference between being the captain & being heavily involved in an international trophy win, and being Mustafi.

Especially winning for a nation which had 0 trophies before him.

The 5 UCL isn’t alone the claim, it’s that he’s the far better UCL Player.

This is agreeable as he has almost every record, he has 53% effective involvements to Messi’s 38% and scores/assists in more important matches against stronger opposition.

Now, it’s not just that he’s played in 4 leagues - it’s that he’s won and been the best player in 3 of the top 5 leagues - and had to adapt to 3 leagues which affects his stats.

He is the only player in history to win POTS in 3 of the top 5 leagues.

Finally, there is one more major thing that goes Ronaldo’s way. He’s far more effective than Messi, he might have less involvements but his goals/assists affect the game more often - and cause him to win more matches.

Look at this resource:

Ronaldo has a higher winrate in the UCL and for NT than Messi - despite his teams having a lower winrate without him than Messi’s without him.

He also has a more positive effect on his team’s win rate in La Liga than Messi.

So overall, Ronaldo is the better UCL and NT player, has the joined most major trophies OAT, would be ahead on Ballondor if it had any shred of credibility and is a dead equal to Messi in La Liga.

RT’s appreciated. Thanks for reading

One final note I missed:

MessiFC can just drop 1 simple image. For Ronaldo’s argument to be seen, you need 35 tweets of context.

A casual will always believe the basic information and not think to question its authenticity.

This is the only reason why Messi is SEEN as better.