Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World's Game

by Jonathan Clegg, Joshua Robinson

Overview

Essential World Cup Reading | Featured in The New York Times’ “What to Read During the World Cup”

Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg offer a deeply reported account of the intertwined sagas and legacies of two of the greatest soccer players of all time—Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo—examining how their rivalry has grown from a personal competition to a multi-billion-dollar industry, paralleling the stunning rise, overwhelming excesses, and uncertain future of modern international soccer.

For over fifteen years, almost any conversation about international soccer has always come back to two players—Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo—undoubtedly the greatest of their generation but with styles, attitudes, and fanbases that couldn’t be more different. For millions of people around the world “Messi or Ronaldo?” isn’t simply a barroom argument, or an affirmation of fandom, so much as a statement of philosophy, of values, of what global soccer is today and of what it will be tomorrow.

Now Wall Street Journal reporters and co-authors of The Club, Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg, unite the stories of Messi and Ronaldo into a single modern epic of global sports, detailing how one rivalry changed both the game and the business of international soccer—forever. Based on dozens of firsthand accounts and years of original reporting, Messi vs. Ronaldo weaves together the stakes, color, and characters at the heart of each man’s story, going inside the locker rooms and boardrooms where their legends were forged and revealing off-field drama as gripping as anything that happened on it. From their contrasting origin stories to their divergent career arcs and their conflicting reputations, these players have built their successes on opposite paths, yet each, in his own way, offers a riveting tale of triumph and excess. Taken together, their story embodies the astronomical growth of international soccer, how social media has revolutionized the power of sports celebrity, and how the desire to capitalize on the billions of dollars these players represent electrified some of the most storied clubs in Europe—Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester United among them—and cost them almost everything.

Updated with a new epilogue detailing Messi and Argentina’s remarkable victory in the 2022 World Cup, Messi vs. Ronaldo offers a deeply researched look at their legacy and grapples with the impact that their talents have had on the game for better and for worse. Much more than a retelling of the dual accomplishments of these great players, this is truly a biography of a rivalry, one that has become a crucial lens for understanding the past, present, and future of global soccer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063157187
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/14/2023
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	59,422
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jonathan Clegg is an editor for The Wall Street Journal, his work has also appeared in the Daily Telegraph, the Independent (U.K.), and FourFourTwo magazine. 

They are the co-authors of The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Richest, Wildest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports and Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World’s Game.

Joshua Robinson is the European sports correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, and has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post and Sports Illustrated. 

Table of Contents

Authors' Note ix

Prologue: Zurich, December 2007 1

Part 1 Two Geniuses

1 Across the Sea 9

2 The Farm System 29

3 The Two Jorges 47

4 Playstation Footballers 67

Part 2 Greatest(s) of All Time

5 Galáctico Brain 107

6 Mes Que Un Clásico 135

7 Gold Rush 155

8 The Monuments Men 181

Part 3 Twilight of the Gods

9 Messinaldo, Inc. 203

10 Mergers and Acquisitions 225

11 Super League Supernova 245

12 The Last Dance 261

Epilogue 279

Acknowledgments 287

Appendix 290

Selected Bibliography 297

Index 299

Editorial Reviews

“Deep and intelligent…a portrait of football greatness.” — Arsène Wenger

"A comprehensive primer into the entwined histories of the two titans and the commercial forces that have molded their careers and, by extension, the sport." — New York Times

“While these two soaring greats are known for their transcendent wonder on the field, this rollicking narrative plunges into the complex backstories and entire ecosystems that propelled their colliding trajectories. With a pair of epic hero stories like The Last Dance or Homer’s Odyssey in cleats, this book traces the journey from aspirational prodigies to global commercial billboards, explaining how these two juggernauts and their rivalry shaped the most popular, and lucrative, era of the world’s most beloved sport.” — Roger Bennett, founder, Men in Blazers Media Network

"This rigorously researched book avoids becoming hagiography. The result is an ambitious and valuable study for all those who want to understand the modern world of football that Mr. Messi and Mr. Ronaldo have helped forge." — The Economist

“This book explains the brilliant backstory behind how each player became a star and how that stardom changed the footballing landscape not just in Spain but in the wider world as well…I read it in a day.” — Rebecca Lowe, NBC Sports

"Excellent... A brilliant follow-up to The Club." — The Independent (UK)

"Impressive." — Boston Globe

An absorbing cautionary tale for soccer fans and students of sports finance alike. — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

"The Club is a richly detailed, remarkably told story of how the Premier League became the unstoppable force that it is today. Joshua and Jonathan provide unparalleled access to the people who make the league go, from the owners to the managers to the stars on the field. The Club is the definitive guide to the definitive league in sports.” 

Billy Beane

The transformation of the English Premier League, from the muddy pitches, primitive tactics, and unglamorous pub culture of its early days to the coveted, lavish, global colossus we now know and love is a rollicking tale. Robinson and Clegg delight in every detail of that evolution from backwater to behemoth, spinning a narrative that is part Great Expectations, part Game of Thrones, in equal measure.” 

Roger Bennett

10/07/2022

Some individuals on the world stage have had so much fame or influence that they become known by only one name. Two current soccer competitors—Messi and Ronaldo—have achieved that status. The Wall Street Journal sports writers who coauthored The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports, Robinson and Clegg argue that the soccer stars' fame is intertwined—that Messi without Ronaldo or Ronaldo without Messi would not have become the superstar they are today. While loads of information can be found on either player, this book takes a unique approach. Their stories, including their beginnings, training, and growth into superstardom are told side-by-side, not so that a comparison can be made (although that is a wonderful debate), but to clearly show how their influences have worked together to improve soccer and make it more visible on the world stage. Their playing styles, temperament, and physical traits are vastly different, but that's motivated each to become better. VERDICT This work is a unique, simple, entertaining piece of writing. It belongs on the shelves of all libraries that serve sports fans.—Steve Dixon

Library Journal

2022-10-19
Two Wall Street Journal sportswriters chronicle a soccer rivalry that hinges on money as much as on-the-pitch performance.

Facing off in the Spanish soccer league for years, Lionel Messi (b. 1987), a native of Argentina, and Cristiano Ronaldo (b. 1985), from the Portuguese island of Madeira, were a study in contrasts: the former small and, as often noted here, lacking in much of a personality, the other voluble and larger than life. Yet both have always displayed nearly superhuman skills, and both emerged as superstars, sometimes to the unhappiness of teammates—in the case of Ronaldo, for example, never passing the ball to them because, he said, “I’d only see the ball.” Both were signed young to rising clubs from Barcelona and Madrid that would soon become the richest in the world—at least, write Robinson and Clegg, until Emirati investors pumped Manchester City and other British teams full of money. Part of the cash flow came from rival sportswear manufacturers Adidas and Nike, part from TV, part from gate revenues. With a huge publicity machine behind them, the rival players “accessed a level of recognition normally reserved for US presidents and popes.” Messi has more social media followers than LeBron James, Ronaldo more than Kim Kardashian. So popular as both athletes and “lifestyle brands” were the two that their clubs had to pay exorbitant amounts to keep them. Fans may argue over which player is better, but for the amount they paid Messi, the authors note, “Barça [Barcelona] could have bought six F-35 fighter jets from the US Air Force,” and Ronaldo commanded similarly huge numbers of euros. Messi and Ronaldo have gone on to other teams, but, the authors conclude, thanks to overreach, the clubs they once played for were left “out of ideas, running out of money, and increasingly desperate.”

An absorbing cautionary tale for soccer fans and students of sports finance alike.

Kirkus Reviews