Messi & Ronaldo, are without a question two of the finest players in the history of the game. Their control and mastery over the game have been so complete that choosing between the two iconic footballers has become tough. L

For a little more than 10 years, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have had a duopoly over the Ballon d’Or, football’s most prestigious individual award.

While Cristiano Ronaldo has featured for four distinct clubs in his senior career, including Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus, Lionel Messi has remained a one-club guy until August.

While the GOAT debate appears to be unsolvable, we look at five factors why we think Lionel Messi has had a finer career than Cristiano Ronaldo.

1. The number of big championships won by great footballers over the course of their careers is one scale on which they can be compared. Individual brilliance is admirable, but since football is ultimately a team sport, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t transfer into trophies.

Lionel Messi has outperformed Cristiano Ronaldo in this area. In his career, he has won 24 major trophies, four more than Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano Ronaldo has seven league titles to Lionel Messi’s ten.

Ronaldo has won more Champions League championships than Lionel Messi, but Messi has six FA Cups, Copa Del Rey, and other national cup events to Ronaldo’s three.

2. In his career, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals for club and country than Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi has 734 goals in 911 games, compared to Cristiano Ronaldo’s 772 goals in 1058 matches.

Ronaldo is much ahead of Lionel Messi in terms of goals scored, but he has played over 150 more matches. Messi scores every 100 minutes, whereas Cristiano Ronaldo only scores every 112 minutes. Messi has also had more assists in his career than Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano Ronaldo only has 225 assists compared to the Argentine’s 309.

3. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have faced each other 36 times in their careers. With 16 wins in a row, Lionel Messi leads the head-to-head record. Cristiano Ronaldo has 11 titles to his name. Nine games have resulted in a tie. In the 22 games he has played versus Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi has scored 22 goals and provided 11 assists.

Cristiano Ronaldo has a total of 19 goals and only one assist. This is obvious evidence that Lionel Messi has done better when the two of them have faced off.

4. One of the most common critiques leveled at Lionel Messi is that he has failed to achieve success with Argentina’s national team. Some of Messi’s teammates have constantly let him down. Argentina advanced to the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals thanks to Lionel Messi’s leadership. He was their main man, and he even pushed them forward on his own at times.

In the 2014 edition of the tournament, Messi scored four goals and added one assist in seven games, but his World Cup dream was cut short by a Mario Gotze goal in the 113th minute. Messi, on the other hand, was awarded the Golden Boot for being the greatest player in the World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo’s best World Cup performance was a semi-final appearance in 2006 when he was still a young member of the Portuguese team.

5. The Ballon d’Or is football’s most prestigious and coveted individual award. As previously stated, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have had a virtual monopoly on the Ballon d’Or for more than a decade. For years, they’ve been neck and neck, but Lionel Messi now appears to be the clear favorite to win the Ballon d’Or.

Cristiano Ronaldo has five Ballon d’Ors to Lionel Messi’s six. Both Messi and Ronaldo are in contention for the award this year, but Lionel Messi has put up higher numbers so far and is in contention to win the domestic double. Also, at 36, Ronaldo’s skills are waning, whilst Lionel Messi still appears to have a few years left in him to play at the best level.