Ronaldo retirement: Who will end up with more goals? Messi and Serie A icon lead charts

The debate about who was better between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is sure to go on for decades even after the legendary pair finally hang up their boots, but when all is said and done, numbers will tell much of the story. Earlier this month, while playing for Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo achieved the monumental feat of becoming the all-time top goalscorer in football as he surpassed previous record holder, Josef Bican. However, with Lionel Messi around and being two years and four months younger than Ronaldo, the 36-year-old's record achievement still isn't safe. 

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Ronaldo vs Messi stats, goals and records

While both Ronaldo and Messi have scored over 700 career goals respectively, they are also the only currently active players to achieve that feat. Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace against Crotone at the weekend to take his record tally to a staggering 765 career goals in 1048 games played so far. In his 19 seasons as a professional, Ronaldo is averaging 0.73 goals per game. 

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Meanwhile, Lionel Messi has amassed 728 career goals in 904 games across 17 seasons. He is currently 37 goals behind Ronaldo but has also played 144 games less than the Portuguese phenomenon. Hence, Messi averages 0.81 goals per game, which is slightly better than Ronaldo's average. 

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Ronaldo is the leading Champions League goalscorer of all time, followed by Messi of course, but it is interesting to note that Messi boasts more European Golden Shoe awards (six to Ronaldo's four). While the competition between the two still remains tight as ever, it promises to be an interesting battle to see who will finish as the highest scorer between the two.

Cristiano Ronaldo retirement talk: When will Cristiano Ronaldo retire? 

Back in 2017, while plying his trade for Real Madrid, Ronaldo shocked fans in an interview when he claimed that he wants to continue playing till he's 41. However, in October last year, Ronaldo, in a brief statement, reported by ESPN, claimed, "The World Cup 2022 will be my last tournament in football." This could possibly mean that Ronaldo might call it quits next summer. 

The Portuguese superstar, currently 36, is showing no signs of slowing down at the moment. Ronaldo is currently leading the goalscoring charts in Serie A with 19 goals to his name. In total, Ronaldo has scored 25 goals across all competitions for the Bianconeri so far. 

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Lionel Messi retirement: When will Lionel Messi retire? 

While there is still no indication of Messi retiring anytime soon, while collecting his sixth Ballon d'Or in December 2019, the 33-year-old indicated that his glorious career might be coming to an end. Messi's contract with Barcelona is set to expire in the summer and reports indicated that the Argentine legend might join another top European club this summer.

It's also likely that Messi will be playing at the World Cup next year as he plans to win at least one major trophy with his national side. However, like Ronaldo, Messi is showing no signs of slowing down with age. He's scored 23 goals across all competitions for Barcelona this season. 

Image Credits - Barcelona, Cristiano Instagram