"The one who makes more differences" - When Brazil legend Rivaldo picked between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Former Brazil midfielder Rivaldo once made his pick between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The 2002 FIFA World Cup winner had gone with the Argentine, which is perhaps unsurprising, as both men played at the same club, Barcelona, albeit not at the same time.

Both Messi and Ronaldo are widely regarded as two of the best players in the game's history despite being on the wrong side of 35. They have scored goals galore - over 800 - for club and country and are still going strong, showing little signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Unsurprisingly, they have won big titles galore with some of the best clubs in the world and with their national team, especially Messi, who won a record 45th title - fourth with his country - at the recent 2024 Copa America.

In a December 2017 interview with Betfair (via Givemesport), Rivaldo had his take on the eternal Messi-Ronaldo debate:

"I would like to play with Messi. It would be amazing. He is the best of the world, the one who makes more differences."

He also acknowledged Ronaldo's greatness:

"Ronaldo? He is the most dangerous player at Real. It's hard to stop him, like Messi, because both score a lot of goals, and you never know what is going to be the next thing they will invent for scoring.

"I'll just say that both are very good players. However, in my time you could find more quality players than today, in which you only hear about Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar."

Rivaldo's comments came at a time when Messi was at Barcelona while Ronaldo was with Barca's arch-rivals Real Madrid. Currently, both players play outside Europe.

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How did Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi fare at their last major tournament for country?

Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Lionel Messi

Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi endured underwhelming individual outings in their respective last appearance for their country. While Ronaldo drew a blank in five games for Portugal at Euro 2024, Messi scored just once in five games for Argentina at the 2024 Copa America.

Both men registered an assist apiece, but while Ronaldo's team crashed out in the quarter-finals to France on penalties, Messi's Argentina beat Colombia 1-0 in extra time in the final last Sunday (July 14) in Miami.

It's pertinent to note that La Pulga came off injured with a swollen ankle midway through the second period before Lautaro Martinez's 112nd-minute winner made it back-to-back Copa triumphs for the Albiceleste.