For more than a decade Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been at the center of a fierce and largely 9️⃣ unsettled debate over who is the greatest player in soccer history.
A decade from now, they might still be part of 9️⃣ that debate. Only the question then may be more like “who were those two guys who came before Kylian Mbappe 9️⃣ and Erling Haaland?”
That might sound like a bit of a stretch, but consider the evidence.
Ronaldo, 38, and Messi, 36, rewrote 9️⃣ the record books, redefined greatness and took the sport to new plateaus. Soccer is more popular, more profitable and better-played 9️⃣ than at any point in its history, and Ronaldo and Messi, who defined an era if not an entire sport, 9️⃣ are big reasons why.
Playing much of their careers against one another in Spain’s La Liga — Messi for Barcelona and 9️⃣ Ronaldo for Real Madrid — they pushed one another, combining for 19 league championships, four Champions League titles and 13 9️⃣ Ballon d’Or awards, achieving levels of greatness together neither could have reached alone.