Ronaldo has not failed to score more than a half-century of goals for club and country in a single season since 2010. Messi, on the other hand, has scored at least 40 goals in a season every year since 2008.
In fact, only three players have scored more than 50 goals in a season while playing with one team throughout their career: Zlatan Ibrahimović, Luis Suarez, and Cristiano Ronaldo. All three of these players have also won the UEFA Champions League while with one team.
Of these three players, only Ronaldo has been selected for the FIFA World Player of the Year award twice: 2009 and 2010. Both times he was beaten out by Lionel Messi.
So, overall, we can say that Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the greatest soccer player in the world.
He has 781 senior career goals for club and country, a club and country record. Furthermore, he is one of the rare players with over 1,100 professional career appearances. Ronaldo has won 32 senior titles during his career. He is also one of only three players to have scored in at least one league game in each season of a major European league (the others being Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luís Figo).
Ronaldo's current team, Real Madrid, play in La Liga, the most prestigious league in Spain. The team was founded in 1902 by King Alfonso XIII as Royal Madrid Football Club. The team was renamed Real Madrid following the establishment of the Spanish Republic in 1931. Under the leadership of several presidents and chairmen, such as Luciano Pavón, Diego Armando Maradona, and Florentino Pérez, the team has become one of the most popular in Europe.
An agreement called "The Treaty of Bern" was signed on July 25, 1908 between Portugal and Spain, after months of negotiations between the two countries. The treaty established that any player who played for both teams would be free to choose which side he wanted to join. This agreement remains in force today, so Ronaldo can choose which national team he wants to play for at any time.
Portugal and Spain have been rivals since their inception as nations.
Prior to his ban due to the coronavirus, Ronaldo had scored 25 goals in all competitions, including 21 in the league (tying his total from last season), two in the Champions League, and two more in the Coppa Italia. However, none of those 25 goals came from free kicks.
Ronaldo returned from his ban on 17 March 2020 and scored twice in a 4-1 win over Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 first knockout stage. His first goal of the year was also his 500th career European goal.
He then netted a brace against Osasuna to take his tally for the season up to 27 goals in all competitions. The first of those goals came after only five minutes when he converted a penalty kick; the second was an excellent effort that flew into the top left corner of the net.
In addition to being the fastest player to reach 300 goals, Ronaldo is also the most prolific scorer in Portugal's history. He has scored at least once in every competitive match he has played since his debut on 8 August 2005. In total, he has scored 154 goals in 175 matches for Sporting CP and Madrid. He has won eight trophies with both clubs.
Before joining Manchester United in 2013, Ronaldo spent seven seasons at Real Madrid where he became one of the world's best players.
Surprisingly, all 38 of these goals were scored with only one touch. His 38-goal total was a league record until Cristiano Ronaldo broke it in the 2010-11 season with 40 goals. Sanchez scored 47 goals in 45 outings in European Cup tournaments. That makes him one of the most successful strikers in UEFA history.
The Mexico international won the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the 1979-80 Spanish League with 31 goals, and he did so again two seasons later when his goals tally rose to 33. He is still today third on the list of highest goal scorers in La Liga's history behind Fernando Torres (59) and Lionel Messi (47).
Sanchez started his career at age 17 with Primera División club Necaxa, where he played from 1976 to 1980. In 79 games over four seasons, he scored 60 goals. He then moved to Europe, joining French Division 1 club Nantes where he continued to score regularly, netting 52 times in just 93 appearances over three seasons. In 1986, he joined Spanish club Sevilla, where he remained for eight seasons and scored 130 goals in 263 matches.
During his time at Sevilla, he also earned 37 caps for Mexico and scored 13 goals.
In 1995, he moved back to France where he played one season with Marseille before ending his career at age 34.
1. Lionel Messi has 667 goals and assists in La Liga alone, and he is one of two players with more than 100 Champions League goals (120), the other being Cristiano Ronaldo (134). His league goal percentage is the same as his victory % for Barcelona in the Spanish League. 2. Cristiano Ronaldo has 894 goals in all competitions for Madrid and Portugal.
3. Lionel Messi has been involved in more goals than any other player in La Liga history (667). He currently holds this record alongside Raul (683) from Spain's La Liga. 4. Cristiano Ronaldo has been involved in 894 goals in all competitions for Madrid and Portugal.
5. Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have won the European Golden Shoe award multiple times. The winner is selected by UEFA based on votes from club coaches and captains at the end of the season.
6. Neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo have ever lost a FIFA World Cup match. They both have a winning record in Brazil with a scoreline of 12-0 (Ronaldo scored six goals).
7. Lionel Messi has more goals than any other player in UEFA Club Football Awards history (76). He is also one of three players who have won the award more than once (Ronaldo is the other one). 8. Cristiano Ronaldo has more trophies than any other player in UEFA Club Football Awards history (9).
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