Depending on who you ask and what metrics are used to rank footballers today and throughout history, determining who is the best football player of all time could end up being an endless debate. However, most will agree that Argentine striker Lionel Messi ranks number one, while many more will argue it’s the forward from Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo. But there’s one feat Messi has achieved that Ronaldo will never match. Messi holds a record that may take years for any other footballer to break, and Ronaldo could still attempt to surpass it, although age is creeping up on both of them. In 2012, Messi scored 91 goals in one year, so he ranks number one, according to Goal. Messi has received the Ballon d’Or eight times, versus Cristiano’s five. Messi has been mentioned as the most likely winner of the Super Ballon d’Or if it is issued for a second time in history. For now, only Alfredo Di Stefano holds that honour. He was given the only Super Ballon d’Or ever granted in 1989 in recognition of him as the best football player of the previous three decades. However, as reported by Euro Weekly News, Messi could be the recipient of a second Super Ballon d’Or this year. Ronaldo has scored 938 goals and has 257 assists throughout his 1,281 professional career appearances. Of those career balls netted, 175 have been by way of penalty. Messi has 173 fewer professional career appearances, but has scored 866 goals and has 384 assists. Of his total career goals, 110 have been scored by way of penalty. In simplistic terms, Messi has a total of 1,250 goals, scored and assisted, while Ronaldo has 1,195. Ronaldo can no longer match this record With Messi’s Inter Miami advancing to the Round of 16 at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the Argentine striker has extended a unique and unreachable record that even Ronaldo can no longer match. Lionel Messi has never been eliminated in the group stage of any football championship spanning his entire professional career. Despite entering with all odds against Inter Miami, Messi was able to hold on to the most astonishing statistical feats in world football, according to World Soccer Talk. “Across all competitions—at both the club and international level—Messi has now successfully advanced from the group stage in 33 consecutive tournaments: 19 UEFA Champions League campaigns, 7 Copa Americas, 5 World Cups, 1 Leagues Cup, and now the 2025 Club World Cup,” the sports news outlet said. No other footballer in the history of this globally popular game has matched that number of group-stage appearances without a single elimination. This feat further solidifies Messi’s place as the best footballer in the game’s history. Across all competitions, including at both club and international levels, Messi has now successfully advanced from the group stage in 33 consecutive tournaments: 19 UEFA Champions League campaigns, 7 Copa América tournaments, 5 FIFA World Cups, 1 Leagues Cup, and now the 2025 Club World Cup, World Soccer Talk added. Messi’s unmatchable milestone Dubbed Mr Champions for his UEFA competition dominance, Ronald does have an impressive record of reaching tournament finals, but when it comes to group-stage consistency, the Portuguese falls short of his eternal rival. Ronaldo has been eliminated in the group phase of his career five times: at the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2005–06 Champions League with Manchester United, the 2014 World Cup, and in the 2020–21 and 2022–23 editions of the UEFA Nations League. Unfortunately, for Ronaldo, this is one milestone in which he will never match Messi.