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The Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi rivalry has been an era-defining battle in football, with the two stars colliding for records and honours over the course of the last two decades.
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While Ronaldo recently reminded his fans that, "if you like Cristiano, you don't have to hate Messi", the competitiveness between the pair certainly had an edge and there are definitely two factions of fans out there who still argue about who is better.
With the help of EA Sports, the question can potentially be put to bed, though there will still be plenty of people who dispute the gaming giant's assessment.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi - EA Sports FC 24 player ratings
Lionel Messi is definitively better than Cristiano Ronaldo, according to the new player ratings for EA Sports FC 24. Both players have dropped in their ratings, but, with an overall rating of 90 in the game, Messi is far ahead of Ronaldo's 86 rating.
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Messi's rating has decreased by one from 91 to 90, but Ronaldo's rating has dropped by two, from 88 to 86. You have to go back 15 years to FIFA 09 to find Messi's rating this low, while 86 is Ronaldo's lowest ever rating by EA Sports.
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Skill | Lionel Messi |
|---|---|---|
| 77 | PAC | 80 |
| 88 | SHO | 87 |
| 75 | PAS | 90 |
| 80 | DRI | 94 |
| 34 | DEF | 33 |
| 74 | PHY | 64 |
| 86 | OVR | 90 |
A closer look at Ronaldo and Messi's stats breakdown shows that the Argentine World Cup winner is stronger in many areas, including pace, passing and dribbling.
However, Ronaldo has a slightly better shooting rating and is considerably stronger than Messi, which will come as little surprise.
Ronaldo's rating means that, while he remains supremely gifted, he is comfortably outside the top level players on EA Sports FC 24.
To give you an idea of where he stands, his rating is lower than that of Neymar, Mohamed Salah and Bruno Fernandes. He is on par with players such as Bukayo Saka, Christopher Nkunku and Andrew Robertson.
While Messi's rating of 90 places him among the best in the game, he is not the out-and-out best - in terms of men's players, that accolade is shared by Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Kevin De Bruyne.
Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane, Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois all have the same rating as Messi on EA Sports FC 24.