PSA Set Registry
Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi
A Collector’s Perspective on the GOAT Debate
Soccer fans have been blessed with being able to witness two of the greatest soccer players ever to grace the pitch. Usually generations feature one main star, but soccer in the 2000s and 2010s have been dominated by two: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Lionel Messi was born in Argentina, but made his career at FC Barcelona in Spain. In Barcelona Messi helped the club to win their Domestic League 10 times and the UEFA Champions League a stunning four times. On the individual awards side, the talented Argentinian won the Ballon d’Or six times, more than any other player. The Argentinian recently moved from the Spanish club to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in Paris, France, a move that shocked soccer fans across the globe. This past summer, Messi was able to add a trophy at the international level after winning the Copa America as the captain of the Argentinian national team.
Also, on the move this past transfer window was Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo, a native to Madeira, Portugal, began his career at Sporting CP in Lisbon but was quickly targeted by Manchester United, after a club friendly between the two teams. At Manchester United, Ronaldo introduced himself to the world and helped the English club win three Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League trophy. Before the 2009-2010 season, the Portuguese superstar made a world record move to Real Madrid in Spain for a fee of £80,000,000, a record at the time. After an illustrious career in Madrid that included two domestic titles and four UEFA Champions Leagues, Ronaldo packed his bags and took his talents to Italy where he helped Juventus win the Serie A two times. In a shocking move this past summer, Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United where he is currently playing. Like Messi, Ronaldo racked up the individual awards winning five Ballon d’Or trophies.
Both of these players are generational talents and some consider one or the other as the best player of all time. With two large stars playing at the same time and sometimes in the same league or competitions, there are constant arguments between soccer fans and soccer card/sticker collectors as to who is the better player and who will go down as the greatest soccer player of all time. Pierre Noboa, a Set Registry member who collects Cristiano Ronaldo items, got back into the soccer collecting hobby in 2014 when the first Panini Prizm World Cup set was released. As a Madrid fan, Noboa had followed Ronaldo since he had joined the club and helped bring the club “back to the top after they had struggled.” As a Ronaldo collector, he currently owns both stars’ rookie items in a PSA Gem-Mint 10. His favorite card he owns is his 2003 Panini Sports Mega Craques #137.
Messi collector Neil Hamilton agreed with Noboa that the top item in his collection is the 2004 Panini Sports Mega Cracks #71 in a PSA Mint 9. Hamilton told SMR that he has been a card collector since the 1980s, but he began to collect Messi cards after his son, who played soccer, started watching YouTube videos of Messi. The videos caught the attention of the long-time collector and since then he knew he wanted to begin to collect Lionel Messi cards and compete in the Lionel Messi Master Set on the PSA Set Registry. Hamilton’s Messi collection currently ranks second out of over 30 active sets.
As fans of the two different players, SMR wanted to see why each collector believed that their favorite player was the better of the two and would go down in history as the GOAT. In a call with Noboa and Hamilton, Noboa argued that Ronaldo’s greatest attribute and what differentiated him from Messi was his ability to show up in big moments and help his team when playing in the most important games. “Messi is a better dribbler, but Messi disappears in the big moments. For example, he didn’t score in the 2014 World Cup final for Argentina.” The clutch factor is what Noboa believes is Ronaldo’s greatest attribute along with all of his other incredible skills.
Hamilton sees things differently. The Messi collector told us that while Messi is behind Ronaldo in the all-time goal tally, assists are more important and Messi has proven to be better than Ronaldo in this area. “Soccer is a team sport and Messi has more assists. [Messi] cares more about the team,” Hamilton told SMR. As of August 2021, Lionel Messi has 385 career assists while Ronaldo has 270 to his name. This fact is what Hamilton believes is the differentiator between the two players. Both players are elite goal scorers and world-class dribblers, but Messi’s ability to move the ball to his teammates during big chances is something that has stood out and will mark his legacy and make him the greatest soccer player of all time.
Despite their player preference, Hamilton and Noboa nevertheless respect and admire both players and agree that soccer fans are lucky to be able to watch both stars compete against each other in present time. The two collectors also agree that dual autographed cards of Messi and Ronaldo are key cards to collect. Noboa himself owns two of the 2014 Panini Prizm Matchups cards that feature both superstars on it. He believes it is going to be an iconic card going forward because it showcases both players on it and because the set itself is also popular. SMR asked the two Set Registry members if they would want the two players to play together on the same team before they retire. Both members agree that they do not think it would be a good idea, and Hamilton noted that “the chemistry probably wouldn’t work well.”
For the remainder of the two legends’ careers, Noboa and Hamilton have different hopes for the players they prefer. Noboa would love if Ronaldo could make it to a World Cup final in order to add one last major tournament to his record. Hamilton hopes to see Messi succeed and win more trophies with a new team after playing with Barcelona since he was a teenager. No one knows what the future will hold in terms of the remainder of their careers, but the one certainty is that Messi and Ronaldo supporters will continue to debate who will go down as the better player in the history of soccer.
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If you’re looking to start a collection of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo cards, you can visit their Rookie or Master sets on the PSA Set Registry. You can also visit _Card_Facts on the PSA website to view images and find out more information about their cards.