Messi vs. Ronaldo: Who leads in football’s biggest honors?

Supporters chose Ronaldo’s 2008 Ballon d’Or triumph ahead of Messi’s 2012 victory. The vote celebrated specific award-winning campaigns, with paid participation and repeat votes permitted. It does not count as another annual Ballon d’Or: Messi still leads that comparison eight to five.

The winning choice takes fans back to Ronaldo’s Manchester United years. He scored 42 goals in all competitions during the 2007-08 season, helping United win the Premier League and Champions League before collecting his first Ballon d’Or.

That first award began a decade in which football’s most recognizable individual prize belonged to just two players.

From five each to Messi’s record eight

Between 2008 and 2017, every Ballon d’Or went to either Messi or Ronaldo.

After Ronaldo’s first victory, Messi won four consecutive editions from 2009 through 2012. Ronaldo then won four of the next five, drawing level at five awards each in 2017. For all their contrasting careers, the most familiar measure of individual recognition was perfectly balanced.

Luka Modric broke their hold on the award in 2018. Messi subsequently moved ahead with victories in 2019, 2021 and 2023, taking his record total to eight.

Their scoring awards tell another story of sustained competition. Messi won six European Golden Shoes to Ronaldo’s four. The prize rewards league goals through a points system that accounts for the league in which they are scored.

Messi’s best league season produced 50 goals in 2011-12. Ronaldo reached his own peak with 48 for Real Madrid in 2014-15, securing his fourth Golden Shoe. Messi later became the first player to win the award in three consecutive seasons, from 2016-17 through 2018-19.

Messi also leads in The Best FIFA Men’s Player awards, winning in 2019, 2022 and 2023. Ronaldo won the first two editions, in 2016 and 2017.

Those figures refer specifically to The Best, introduced in 2016. Between 2010 and 2015, FIFA and France Football presented a joint FIFA Ballon d’Or, whose winners are already included in the Ballon d’Or totals. Counting those victories again as separate FIFA awards would count the same honor twice.

Where Ronaldo holds the advantage

The balance shifts in the Champions League. Ronaldo won Europe’s leading club competition five times, compared with Messi’s four.

His first title came with Manchester United in 2008. He added four with Real Madrid, where his scoring helped define an exceptionally successful period for the club. He finished his Champions League career with 140 goals, excluding qualifying, and holds the single-season record of 17, set in 2013-14.

Messi scored 129 Champions League goals and won all four of his titles with Barcelona. He played in the winning finals in 2009, 2011 and 2015, while his 2006 title came after appearances earlier in the campaign; he was absent from the final squad.

Their rivalry also reached the final itself. In 2009, Messi scored as Barcelona defeated Ronaldo’s Manchester United in Rome. Two years later, Messi scored against United again in another Barcelona final victory, by which time Ronaldo had moved to Madrid.

International football brought a different set of milestones.

Ronaldo captained Portugal to the 2016 European Championship and Nations League titles in 2019 and 2025. At 40, he scored the equalizer against Spain in the 2025 final before Portugal won on penalties.

Messi’s senior international collection includes the Copa America in 2021 and 2024, the 2022 Finalissima and the 2022 World Cup. He also won the Under-20 World Cup in 2005 and Olympic gold in 2008, achievements from separate age-restricted competitions.

Across the individual awards examined here, Messi leads in Ballon d’Or titles, European Golden Shoes and The Best prizes. Ronaldo holds the advantage in Champions League trophies and goals.

The latest fan vote adds another perspective to that comparison: Messi has won the Ballon d’Or more often, but Ronaldo’s first victory was the campaign participating supporters chose above the rest.

Earlier, Qazinform reported that Ronaldo’s 2008 Ballon d’Or triumph had topped the Ballon d’Or of All Time fan vote, ahead of Messi’s 2012 victory.