In February 2024, mark your calendars for a historic football match between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The two legendary players will face off one last time in the World Cup in 2026, leading Argentina and Portugal respectively.
As part of a mini-tournament (Riyadh Season Cup), Inter Miami and Al-Nasr will meet in Riyadh on that day. Al Hilal will also participate in the league format tournament, where everyone plays against everyone. The exact schedule for the tournament will be announced at a later date.
Croatian national team player Marcelo Brozović will be directly involved in the final match as Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammate. If that match were to take place a few months later, Luka Modrić may also participate, given that all participants in the tournament are potential clubs for their future careers. But not until next summer.
Messi and Ronaldo have met 37 times on the field so far, with Messi having a slight advantage (17-11 victory). Nine of their matches have ended in a draw. Their last clash was particularly memorable when PSG defeated the combined team of Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal led by Ronaldo (5-4).
The debate about who is better between Messi and Ronaldo will never end as it depends on personal opinions. However, everyone can agree that this duo changed the sport and set new boundaries that will be hard to surpass in the future.