messi has more individual awards than ronaldo.
who has more individual awards ronaldo or messi?
messi
among his contemporary peers, messi is most often compared and contrasted with portuguese forward cristiano ronaldo, as part of an ongoing rivalry that has been compared to past sports rivalries like the muhammad ali–joe frazier rivalry in boxing, the björn borg–john mcenroe rivalry in tennis, and the ayrton senna–alain prost rivalry from formula one motor racing. although messi has at times denied any rivalry, they are widely believed to push one another in their aim to be the best player in the world: since 2008, both players have won five ballons d'or while messi has six european golden shoes to ronaldo’s four. pundits and fans regularly argue the individual merits of both players; beyond their playing styles, the debate also revolves around their differing physiques—ronaldo is with a muscular build—and contrasting public personalities, with ronaldo's self-confidence and theatrics a foil to messi's humility. from 2009–10 to 2017–18, messi faced ronaldo at least twice every season in "el clásico", which ranks among the world's most viewed annual sports events. off the pitch, ronaldo is his direct competitor in terms of salary, sponsorships, and social media fanbase.
lionel messi
at club level, messi and ronaldo have represented rivals fc barcelona and real madrid. the two players faced each other at least twice every season in the world's most popular regular-season club game, "el clásico" (among the most viewed annual sporting events), from ronaldo's arrival at real in 2009 until his transfer to italian club juventus f.c. in 2018. off the field, they are also the face of two rival sportswear manufacturers, messi of adidas and ronaldo of nike, which are also the kit suppliers of their national teams and the opposite for their clubs. the two highest paid players in football, messi and ronaldo are among the world's best paid sports' stars in combined income from salaries, bonuses and off-field earnings. in 2018, messi edged ronaldo on "forbes"' list of best-paid athletes, earning $111 million, with ronaldo next at $108 million. they have the two largest social media followings in the world among sportspeople with a combined 211 million facebook fans in 2019, ronaldo having 122 million and messi 89 million. as well as a combined 288 million followers on instagram as of 2019, ronaldo is the most followed individual on the entire service, with over 168 million followers whilst messi has 120 million followers.
ronaldo–messi rivalry