Home/Soccer

via Reuters

via Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the greatest players of all time and have ruled the world of football for over 15 years now. They have broken record after record while competing with each other, and are now finally looking like the human beings that other footballers look like.

Messi has had an abysmal start to life at Paris Saint Germain after finally leaving FC Barcelona this season. He has only managed to score one league goal in 12 games for PSG in Ligue 1 and has looked a step behind than when he was at FC Barcelona.

On the other hand, Ronaldo is facing another tough season with a mediocre team in Manchester United, as the club was knocked out of the FA Cup yesterday. The result was worse for Ronaldo as he missed several chances to score and also missed a penalty in the first half which would’ve changed the tie altogether.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Who really has missed more penalties?

Ronaldo’s penalty miss raised another question that has been in the minds of several fans. Ronaldo is famous for scoring penalties and has scored the most penalties out of all active players, Messi is up there on the list and has several penalty goals himself, but what about misses?

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 143 penalty kicks in his career (excluding penalties in penalty shootouts) and has missed 29. The numbers are much worse in Messi’s case though as the Argentinian forward has also missed 29 penalties, but he has only scored 103, 40 less than Ronaldo. As a result, his penalty conversion rate is much worse than the Portuguese.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Lionel Messi wins his 7th Ballon d’Or

However, that is just another stat where Ronaldo beats Messi. The Portuguese haven’t been able to beat Lionel Messi to the Ballon d’Or in the last two editions of the award. Ronaldo hasn’t won the Ballon d’Or since last winning it in 2017 when he won his 5th.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Read More: “You’re the Main Reason I Love NFL”: Harry Kane and Tom Brady Exchange Emotional Messages on Retirement

Meanwhile, Messi won his 7th Ballon d’Or in 2021 and has steered clear of Ronaldo in that regard. Nevertheless, the title of the greatest player of all time is an individual choice, and no matter who you choose, it’s very hard for you to be wrong.