4 outstanding records Cristiano Ronaldo shares with Lionel Messi

Modified Mar 10, 2020 17:45 GMT

Ronaldo and Messi share 4 stellar records

#1 Most appearances in the top 3 candidates for the Ballon d'Or

While the Ballon d’Or has been won by some fantastic football talents since the inception of the award in 1956, Messi and Ronaldo managed to take the award to greater heights due to their duopoly on the “greatest of all times” debate.

Their competitive nature and desire to outdo each other on the grand stage has made for a memorable decade for all football fans. The fact that they continue to be in the thick of things even after 13 years since their first appearance in the Ballon d’Or podium only highlights their extraordinary capabilities on the football pitch.

The two of them first appeared in the top 3 of the Ballon d’Or in 2007, when Messi finished third and Ronaldo came second behind Kaka. That kick-started an unmatched reign in the final three of the awards, that has lasted more than a decade!

The Argentinean and the Portuguese have appeared in the top 3 candidates for the Ballon d’Or 12 times, the most by any footballers in the history of the awards. Both have finished third once, but while Ronaldo has finished second on 6 occasions, Messi has done so on 5 occasions. However, the Argentinean beats his Portuguese rival when it comes to the big prize, winning the Ballon d’Or 6 times compared to Ronaldo’s 5.

Since 2007, the Portuguese has missed out on a top 3 finish only in 2010, while Messi’ only absence in the top 3 was in 2018, where he was criminally overlooked as Luka Modric won the Ballon d’Or.

Also Read: 3 World Cup records Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will never break

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by A. Ayush Chatterjee