Last hurrah for Ronaldo, Messi looking to cement spot amongst footballing Gods

It’s the end of the road for two of football’s greatest icons, Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

They have won everything in world football, well, certainly Messi, as Ronaldo is still searching for that elusive World Cup title.

While Messi has cemented his place amongst the Gods of football after leading Argentina to the 2022 crown, Ronaldo is still searching for that elusive title that would put him alongside Messi and the likes of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Zidane and Kylian Mbappe.

Despite whatever is achieved at the club level, the FIFA World Cup is the one that defines greatness.

For over 20 years, football fans have had the pleasure of watching two of the greatest players ever to grace the game of football. Both Messi and Ronaldo are approaching the end of their careers, with Messi being 39 years old and Ronaldo 41, so this is basically their last World Cup given their ages. 

The Greatest of All Time (GOAT) tag has been a long-standing fight between Pele and Maradona, but Messi has joined the fray, and Ronaldo is yearning to be a part of that argument, and this is his last chance.

Ronaldo, who made his senior debut for Portugal some 23 years ago in 2003 as an 18-year-old, is the country’s all-time top scorer with 143 goals from 228 games. In total, at the senior level, he has 743 goals for club and country.

It took a while, but he finally led Portugal to the European title in 2016 to add to his countless trophies won at  Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.

He has won seven league titles at three different clubs and five Champions League crowns while winning the Ballon d’Or five times.

He holds the record for the most goals in the Champions League at 140 and most appearances at 183.

But with all his success, he has never won the trophy every footballer dreams of—the FIFA World Cup.

However, this might be his best chance as Portugal has several talented players plying their trade in the top clubs across Europe, and although he seems to have passed his best, he is still lethal in front of goal and extremely dangerous.

Portugal are in Group K alongside DR Congo, Colombia and Uzbekistan and are fancied to advance to the next stage. But it’s a tricky group as DR Congo are unpredictable and could surprise, while Colombia are one of the best teams in South America and could top the zone.

The little Argentine magician, Messi has won the Ballon d’Or seven times and is Argentina’s all-time top scorer with 117 goals from 199 games. He has 686 goals at club and international level, having made his senior debut in 2005, the same year after leading Argentina to the FIFA World Youth Championship.

He won the Olympic Games gold medal in 2008 and led Argentina to the 2021 South American Championship. He came close to World Cup victory in 2014, losing to Germany in the final. He finally got over the line in 2022, much to the relief of his adoring fans.

Messi had a remarkable career at Barcelona, winning 35 trophies including 10 La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and seven Copa del Rey.

In 2016, Messi retired but had a change of heart and returned to international football in time for the 2022 World Cup and has not looked back since. But this is certainly his last, and he will be hoping to join an elite few to have won two World Cups. Pele has three crowns.

Argentina are one of the inform team in world football right now and should have enough to come out of Group J consisting of Algeria, Austria and Jordon.

There is no pressure on Messi to deliver, but a ton of bricks sit on the shoulders of Ronaldo as he might end his career with the prestigious FIFA World Cup trophy to his name.