The debate will be eternal: Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. On this subject, an authoritative voice has come out with a phrase that perfectly defines the feeling of having to choose one as the best. Phil Jones, former Manchester United player, said a phrase as simple as it was forceful to describe this situation:
Choosing between Ronaldo and Messi is like choosing between mum and dad
Even so, the Englishman ended up leaning towards Cristiano Ronaldo, a footballer with whom he shared a dressing room during his time at Old Trafford.
Phil Jones chooses Cristiano Ronaldo as the GOAT
Not all former players can boast of having lived so closely with both. Phil Jones was a teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United and also faced Lionel Messi on multiple occasions, which makes him an authoritative voice on the subject.
For Jones, the comparison goes beyond numbers or trophies: it’s about two distinct styles that dominated football for more than two decades, pushing each other to levels never seen before.
In addition to choosing Cristiano Ronaldo as the player with the most aura, Phil Jones also chose Robin van Persie as the best finisher, Paul Scholes as the best playmaker and Sergio Ramos as the best defender of all time. In the goalkeeper position he chose Gianluigi Buffon, Ryan Giggs as the most unbalancing and Zinedine Zidane as the player with the best ball striking. In the end, when asked about the GOAT, Jones made an analogy with the impossible family decision, but ended up choosing Cristiano Ronaldo, his former teammate.
Messi and Cristiano: figures that seem unreal
Statistics support why this debate is still so alive. Cristiano Ronaldo has 961 official goals, while Lionel Messi has 896, both counting club and national team matches. They are the two top scorers in the history of professional soccer.
Ronaldo has scored more than 100 goals for four different clubs, including his current team Al-Nassr, as well as surpassing the century mark with the Portuguese national team. Messi, on the other hand, built a unique relationship with goals at Barcelona, where he scored more than 650 goals in 17 seasons, as well as shining for Argentina.
Currently, both are still protagonists in their respective leagues: Cristiano Ronaldo has started 2026 strongly, scoring 18 goals in the season with Al-Nassr, although he now seems to be on the verge of leaving the team due to differences with the group of investors who control Saudi Arabian soccer.
On the other hand, Lionel Messi is still waiting for the start of the 2026 season on February 21 against LAFC with the mission of defending the MLS championship.
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