As the most dominant soccer players in the world for over a decade, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo play in what will probably be their last World Cup of their careers, one final chance to claim the title of world champion for Argentina or Portugal.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is one of the most exciting events to watch and is the most watched sport event in the world. Soccer fan or not, rooting for your country and your favorite players in the single game elimination can bring all sorts of emotions to the watchers.

Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the sport since they were 17/18 years old. For nine years since 2008, Messi and Ronaldo have gone back and forth with winning the Ballon d’Or and for 13 years have both been a top three finalist. The Ballon d’Or is awarded to the player who performed the best in the season. For many, the award shows who the best player in the world is. Messi has won it seven times with Ronaldo winning it five times. They have both won countless other awards for goals, premier league championships and records.

With the World Cup being every four years, top players have very few chances to claim the cup for their country. Most players have and will play in one to three World Cups in their career. Messi and Ronaldo however are both one of the few players who have played in five World Cups including the current 2022 season. Both players have played over 20 games and if Argentina makes the finals, Messi will have the record for most World Cup games played at 26.

Even with the amount of times Messi and Ronaldo have played neither have been able to win the cup. Messi took Argentina all the way to the finals in 2014 but took a hard loss when Germany scored a last second goal. Despite the loss Messi still won the golden ball which is awarded to the most outstanding player of that World Cup. Although Ronaldo hasn’t been to the finals, Portugal has never been the strongest team in the World Cup compared to teams like Argentina, Brazil, and France.

Other top players for the 2023 season include Kylian Mbappe who is tied with Messi as the top scorer. He plays for France and won the previous World Cup. Messi and Mbappe are teammates in the premier league both playing for Paris Saint Germain. Their other teammate, Neymar Jr, was also looking to go a long way in the cup as a top player to watch playing for Brazil. Unfortunately Brazil took a tough loss to Croatia in a penalty shootout.

Being Messi and Ronaldo’s last World Cup, each game becomes more intense for their many fans. Sadly for Ronaldo, Portugal lost in the quarter finals against Morocco. Fans were devastated as they saw Ronaldo walk off the World Cup pitch for his last time. However for Messi things couldn’t be better, as Argentina recently beat Croatia sending them to his second World Cup Finals. Playing his teammate Mbappe, it will still be an amazing battle of two of the top players even if it didn’t end up being Messi vs Ronaldo. Their years of dominating play have inspired many including current players like Mbappe who was a fan of Ronaldo when he was a kid. The sport will continue to get better but there will never be a greater rivalry than Lionel Messi and Cristano Ronaldo.