Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Will World Cup win end GOAT debate once and for all?

Lionel Messi's pursuit of a second FIFA World Cup title has reignited football's longest-running debate.

Argentina's win over England has put them through to Sunday's final against Spain, and with it comes the familiar question of whether another trophy would finally settle the Greatest Of All Times (GOAT) debate between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Two decades of pushing each other

© Imago

For close to two decades, Messi and Ronaldo have defined an era of football unlike any before it.

Between them they have collected 13 Ballon d'Or awards, a combined haul of Champions League and domestic league titles, and scoring records that neither had any real rival for outside each other.

The World Cup has long stood out as one of the few distinctions separating them.

Messi ended his wait by captaining Argentina to the 2022 title in Qatar, adding the one honor missing from his career.

Ronaldo won the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, but a World Cup never came his way.

That gap is now permanent: Portugal lost 1-0 to Spain in the round of 16 at this tournament, and Ronaldo has confirmed it was his last World Cup.

Argentina needed a late rally to beat England in the semi-final.

Anthony Gordon put England ahead 10 minutes into the second half in front of 68,239 fans in Atlanta.

Messi supplied the pass for Enzo Fernandez's equaliser in the 85th minute, then set up Lautaro Martinez for a stoppage-time winner to send Argentina through.

It was the latest chapter in a tournament in which Argentina has repeatedly found goals late, and it extended England's wait for a first World Cup final since 1966.

What a second title would mean for Messi

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A win over Spain would make Argentina the first side to defend the World Cup since Brazil in 1962, it would also make Messi only the second player, after Brazil's Cafu, to appear in three World Cup finals.

Supporters argue that a second title, combined with sustained peaks at Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, would leave little room left in the debate.

Messi already holds a record eight Ballon d'Or awards, along with a Copa America title in 2021 and a Finalissima win in 2022, both with Argentina.

The case that still favours Ronaldo

© Iconsport / Sportfile

Ronaldo's supporters point to a body of work built across five clubs: Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and Al Nassr.

He finishes his Portugal career with 146 international goals, the most scored by any player in the men's game.

He is also Portugal's all-time leading World Cup scorer, with 11 goals after breaking Eusebio's record of nine, a mark that had stood since 1966.

Ronaldo became the first player in men's football history to score in six different World Cups, doing so against Uzbekistan in this tournament's group stage.

For his backers, that volume and two decades of consistency at the top level count for more than a single trophy either way.

Messi vs Ronaldo: A debate that resists a final answer

© Iconsport / DeFodi Images

The rivalry has always been about more than trophies and statistics.

Messi is remembered for his vision, dribbling and instinct for the decisive pass, while Ronaldo is remembered as one of the most clinical finishers the sport has produced.

There is no governing body ranking that settles the question, since Ballon d'Or voting, trophy counts and goal records each reward different things.

Even with Messi one win away from a second World Cup, the argument is likely to run on among fans long after Sunday's final whistle in New Jersey, because greatness is measured against different criteria depending on who is doing the measuring.

Messi, 39, is Argentina's captain and already has a World Cup, a Copa America, a Finalissima and a record eight Ballon d'Or awards to his name.

Ronaldo, 41, closes out his international career as men's football's all-time leading scorer, with trophy-winning spells at Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and Al Nassr, and Euro and Nations League titles with Portugal.

Whatever the result on Sunday, both players leave legacies that have shaped modern football and inspired a generation of supporters.

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