Messi crushes Cristiano Ronaldo: these are the most decorated players of all time

For the past two decades Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated soccer. They have wowed fans around the world with their goals, dribbles and assists, and have led their respective teams to major titles. They have also competed against each other to become the best player of this generation and, arguably, of all time.

In that respect Leo has clearly surpassed CR7: since winning his first Ballon d'Or in 2009, he has been voted player of the year by France Football magazine eight times. The last of these was this year, mainly thanks to his performances during the Qatar 2022 World Cup with the Argentina national team. The Portuguese striker received the award for the first time in 2008 and won it five times in total.

But individual trophies are not the only thing in which Messi has surpassed Cristiano. It is also in the number of titles each has won during their nearly 20-year careers. The Argentine forward became the most decorated player of all time this year after leading Inter Miami to the Leagues Cup trophy. Between Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami and the Argentine national team, he has won 44 titles.

Cristiano Ronaldo is much lower in the ranking: he ranks seventh with 33 titles, between Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Al-Nassr and the Portugal National Team. The only thing CR7 beats Leo in is the number of Champions League titles: he has five titles (one with The Red Devils and four with Los Merengues), while his rival has four.

Who are the others?

The second place in the ranking of the most decorated players of all time goes to Dani Alves, who has won 43 titles and was surpassed only this year by Messi. Then come Andres Iniesta (38), Maxwell (37), Ryan Giggs (36), Gerard Pique (35), Kenny Dalglish (35), Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez and Vitor Baia (34).