Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? Spain international Robin Le Normand picks his favourite between the two superstars
Spain centre-back Robin Le Normand has made his pick between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The duo are two of the bonafide legends of the sport.
Both have scored over 800 times each for club and country and are still going strong despite starting out nearly two decades ago. Messi and Ronaldo experienced contrasting fortunes in their respective last international assignments.
While Messi won his fourth straight senior title with Argentina by winning the 2024 Copa America, Ronaldo's Portugal lost 5-3 on penalties to France in the quarter-final after a goalless 120 minutes.
Meanwhile, ahead of Spain's UEFA Nations League opener at Serbia on Thursday, Le Normand made his choice between Ronaldo and Messi. The interaction - as uploaded by El Chiringuito TV on X - involved Le Normand picking one of two players. The choices between attacking players went as follows (0:25):
"Mbappe or Vinicius: Mbappe"
"Mbappe or Lewandowski: Mbappe"
"Mbappe or Haaland: Haaland"
"Haaland or Lamine Yamal: Lamine Yamal"
"Lamine Yamal or Nico Williams: Nico Williams"
"Nico Williams or Rodrygo: Nico Williams"
"Nico Williams or Griezmann: Griezmann"
"Griezmann or Julian Alvarez: Griezmann"
"Griezmann or Benzema: Griezmann"
"Griezmann or Messi: Messi"
"Messi or Cristiano (Ronaldo): Messi"
Ronaldo is set to be in action for Portugal in their UEFA Nations League opener with Croatia in Lisbon on Thursday. Meanwhile, Messi is set to miss Argentina's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Chile (Thursday) and Colombia (Tuesday) due to injury.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi snubbed in 2024 Ballon d'Or shortlist
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are widely regarded as the two best players to set foot on a football field. They have scored goals and won big titles and individual accolades galore for club and country.
However, on Wednesday, the two superstars didn't make the 30-man shortlist for the 2024 Ballon d'Or. That was despite Ronaldo coming off a 44-goal season with Al-Nassr - including a record 35 strikes in the Saudi Pro League - while Messi led Argentina to back-to-back triumphs at the Copa America.
It marks the first time since 2003 that neither Messi nor Ronaldo would feature in the Ballon d'Or shortlist. It's pertinent to note that the Argentinian won a record eighth title last year following his exploits at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, while Ronaldo - who has had a record 18 nominations.
Messi (eight) and Ronaldo (five) have the most Ballon d'Or awards by any player, winning 10 in a row between themselves (2008-2017).