2022 World Cup can't decide the Ronaldo/Messi debate

The 2022 World Cup is not enough to decide the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo debate, we haven't seen the end of them. (Photo credit: Louis Vuitton)

The Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate will rumble on forever, even beyond the 2022 World Cup final on Sunday where no matter what happens, the greatness of Messi will never be questioned.

Ronaldo may have crashed out at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup and he may have lost his relationship with everyone at Old Trafford after the highly criticized interview with Piers Morgan but his place as one of the greatest to ever play the game can never be questioned.

We grew up reading about the Diego Maradona and Pele debate; top pundits remain divided in that regard and while there was a little break with many gladiators like Luis Figo, David Beckham, Raul Gonzalez, Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane, and Ronaldinho all laying claims to greatness, the emergence of Ronaldo and Messi threw fresh battle in our faces with reckless abandon.

Whatever side of the divide you’re on, Messi and Ronaldo have broken the status quo and they have proven to us that two kings can reign at the same time. What we won’t encourage is the toxicity that fans bring to the debate.

Messi at 35 is fighting to be the highest goal scorer at the World Cup, he is driving PSG forward and could land Argentina their first World Cup trophy in decades. Ronaldo at 37 is still trying to be at the top while his contemporaries have started coaching teams, says a lot.

It will be about Kyllian Mbappe and Erling Haaland soon with sprinkles of other top starts breaking out; Jamaal Musiala, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and few others are promising but we’ve not seen the end of the Ronaldo-Messi debate.