Mbappé reopened the debate about Ronaldo and Messi: Cristiano is his idol, but he does not accept simple comparisons
Kylian Mbappé is once again at the center of one of football's longest-running debates, the one about Cristiano Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's place in the history of the game. The French forward and Real Madrid player, speaking in an interview for the Sorare platform that was reported by international sports media, did not want to reduce the comparison of the two greats to the usual division according to which Messi is the symbol of pure talent, while Ronaldo is the symbol solely of hard work. Mbappé clearly reiterated that Ronaldo is his idol, but he also emphasized that Messi is an exceptional phenomenon with whom he had the rare opportunity to share a dressing room. Such an answer quickly gained a strong response because it did not offer a simple choice, but reminded people that both of their careers were built on exceptional quality, professionalism and many years of consistency.
Mbappé rejected a simple division between talent and work
According to reports citing the interview for Sorare, Mbappé reacted in particular to the claim that Ronaldo is an example of a player who built everything through work, while Messi reached the top primarily through natural gift. The Frenchman called such an image superficial because, as he said, no one can seriously claim that Ronaldo has no talent, nor that Messi did not work hard during his career. His message is important precisely because it comes from a player who has seen first-hand the level of daily pressure in the biggest clubs and national teams. In the same discussion, Mbappé stressed that the two greats differ in style, build, dominant foot, way of influencing a match and footballing aesthetics, but that they are connected by an almost impossible level of longevity at the top. In doing so, he actually rejected the often-used fan scheme in which one player is portrayed as a product of discipline and the other as a product of genius, and offered a more balanced view of what is needed for football longevity.
Such a statement is not accidental because Mbappé is not only an observer of the great Ronaldo and Messi era, but one of the few active players who has a direct connection with both in his own career. He played with Messi at Paris Saint-Germain, while for years he publicly cited Ronaldo as a role model and as the symbol of a player who marked Real Madrid. According to Real Madrid's official data, Mbappé has been a member of the club since 2024, after spells at Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, and he arrived in Madrid as the captain of the French national team and one of the most prominent forwards of his generation. That context gives his statement special weight because it is not a comment from a distant perspective, but the assessment of a player who has himself already gone through part of the burden carried by global football stars. His answer can therefore also be read as a defense of the professional reality of elite football, in which neither enormous talent nor extreme work is enough on its own.
Ronaldo as an idol and a symbol of Madrid ambition
Mbappé has never hidden how much Cristiano Ronaldo influenced his football imagination. In earlier appearances, he said several times that the Portuguese forward was one of his great role models, and joining Real Madrid further intensified comparisons with the player who became a club legend in Madrid. According to Real Madrid's official website, Ronaldo won four European champion titles with the club, three Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, two Spanish league titles, two Copa del Rey titles and two Spanish Super Cups. In its historical records, the club presents him as one of the most important figures of the modern era, which explains why every new major forward in Madrid is inevitably measured against his legacy. Mbappé, however, with his latest comment did not try to diminish Messi in order to emphasize Ronaldo, but instead showed precisely the opposite: that idolizing one great does not have to mean disputing the other.
In the football public, Ronaldo is often portrayed as an example of an athlete who developed his own physical, technical and mental capacities to the extreme. According to UEFA and Real Madrid data, his career includes five Champions League titles and a series of records that made him one of the most recognizable players in the history of European club football. But Mbappé warned of the danger of erasing Ronaldo's original footballing quality from that story, as if the goals, movement, leap, finishing and ability to decide big matches came only through training. That is exactly why his statement resonated among fans: Ronaldo remains his idol, but not as a one-dimensional story about effort, rather as a combination of talent, discipline and long-term ambition.
Messi as a teammate and an experience that changes perspective
The second part of Mbappé's answer referred to Lionel Messi, with whom he shared the Paris Saint-Germain attack during the period when the Parisian club assembled one of the most high-profile offensive lines in European football. Messi arrived at PSG in 2021 after leaving Barcelona, and left the French club in 2023, which was confirmed at the time by both the club and relevant sports media. For Mbappé, that period was special because he could observe every day a player who already had the status of one of the greatest in football history. In the interview reported by the media, the Frenchman therefore emphasized that Messi is special and that the experience of playing with him changes the way one speaks about his game. In doing so, he further rejected the stereotype that the Argentine succeeds only because football comes naturally to him, without the enormous work that stands behind such a level of performance.
Messi's example is additionally powerful because his career has been marked by an exceptional combination of individual recognitions and team trophies. According to the list of Ballon d'Or winners published by relevant sports institutions and media, Messi is the record eight-time winner of that award, while Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or trophies. In its official announcement after the 2023 ceremony, Inter Miami pointed out that Messi then won the award for the eighth time, further strengthening his record in one of football's most prestigious individual selections. But Mbappé's comment rests not only on numbers and awards, but on the experience of working together and of matches in which Messi showed the ability to change the structure of an attack through rhythm, vision and decisions.
A rivalry that shaped an entire football generation
The debate about Ronaldo and Messi continues because the two of them are more than a comparison of individual numbers. Their rivalry marked a period in which Barcelona and Real Madrid were at the center of global football attention, and every major match, award or record further fueled the division among fans. In his statement, Mbappé reminded people that these are players who are almost opposites in footballing expression: one is taller, stronger, more distinctly vertical and often described as a ruthless finisher, while the other is shorter, left-footed, more connected with creation, rhythm and the final pass. That contrast is one of the reasons why their era is remembered for so long, because it did not offer two versions of the same type of player, but two different paths to historical greatness. Mbappé's comment therefore did not close the debate, but directed it toward a broader understanding of what it means to dominate football for more than a decade.
According to UEFA and other relevant overviews of Ballon d'Or winners, the period from the late 2000s to the early 2020s was exceptionally marked by Messi's and Ronaldo's dominance in individual selections. Such a concentration of recognition is rare in a sport in which injuries, club changes, coaching changes and tactical trends very quickly change the hierarchy. Mbappé, aware of this, stressed that the difference between them should not be reduced to a caricature about talent and work, but understood through the different ways in which they influenced matches. Ronaldo was often the face of directness, jumping, finishing and the constant search for goals, while Messi for years combined the roles of scorer, assistant and organizer. That is exactly why their comparison remains so attractive: it is not only a question of who is better, but also a question of what kind of football someone values more.
The 2022 World Cup as a shared point between Mbappé and Messi
One of the reasons why Mbappé's comment has additional emotional weight is the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, in which he and Messi found themselves on opposite sides. According to FIFA's official match report, Argentina and France played 3:3 after extra time on December 18, 2022, at Lusail Stadium, and Argentina won the title with a 4:2 victory in the penalty shootout. Messi scored two goals in that match, while Mbappé scored a hat-trick and became only the second player after Geoff Hurst to score three goals in a World Cup final. FIFA also states that, with four goals in World Cup finals, Mbappé became the most successful scorer in final matches in the history of the tournament. That evening therefore remains a rare point at which the stories of Messi, Mbappé and the legacy of the greatest forwards directly overlap.
Although Mbappé played one of the most striking individual matches in the history of the tournament in that final, the title went to Messi and Argentina. According to reports from the same interview for Sorare, the Frenchman admitted that he had not watched the match again because, as he vividly said, it could awaken difficult memories. Such a statement shows how often elite sporting moments are simultaneously both a public spectacle and a personal burden. For fans, the final in Lusail may be one of the most exciting in history, but for Mbappé it remains a reminder of an exceptional performance that did not end with a trophy. In the context of his discussion about Ronaldo and Messi, that detail further explains why the Frenchman understands well that the greatest players are not measured only by talent or work, but also by the ability to carry the consequences of defeats, expectations and constant comparisons for years.
The statement comes ahead of a new major stage
Mbappé's appearance received additional attention because it comes ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which according to FIFA's official schedule opens on June 11 with a match between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City. FIFA announced that the tournament will have 48 national teams for the first time, and the hosts are Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. France, Argentina and Portugal are again entering the tournament with great expectations, which means that the names of Mbappé, Messi and Ronaldo will continue to be mentioned in a shared context. Mbappé is a key figure in that picture because he is expected not only to score goals, but also to continue the standard set by the players he talks about.
In Mbappé's official profile, Real Madrid states that the French forward has already won the World Cup with the national team, the Nations League, several French league titles, the Golden Boot, the Pichichi Trophy and other major recognitions. This means that his career is already measured by the highest criteria, even though he is still in a phase in which he can significantly change his own place in football history. That is precisely why his words about Ronaldo and Messi are not only a comment on older legends, but also an indirect message about the standard to which he himself aspires. If Ronaldo and Messi showed that historical greatness is built through long periods of repeated top-level performances, Mbappé is now living in a time in which similar consistency is expected of him. His refusal of simple labels can therefore also be interpreted as an understanding that the greatest careers are never the product of just one quality.
Why Mbappé's answer did not close the debate, but deepened it
Fan debates often seek a final answer, but Mbappé did not offer one in a form that would satisfy the logic of a simple choice. He said that Ronaldo is his idol, acknowledged that the Portuguese left a special mark on him, but at the same time stressed that Messi is an exceptional player whose greatness he was able to see from close range. Such a position is not indecision, but an attempt to acknowledge the complexity of two careers that were built on different foundations, yet ended up in the same historical category. According to available information from the interview, Mbappé wanted to challenge precisely the kind of debate that relies on shortcuts and ignores the professional reality of the elite. That is why his statement provoked so many reactions: fans expected a choice, and received an argument against simplification.
For the broader football public, his message also has additional value because it comes from a player who is increasingly being mentioned as the successor to the greatest individual eras. Mbappé is already part of comparisons that were once reserved for Ronaldo and Messi, but he is clearly aware that such comparisons are often unfair if context is removed from them. Ronaldo and Messi did not become historical figures only because they had different styles, but because for years they turned difference into an advantage and repeatedly adapted to the demands of the game. Mbappé's answer is therefore above all a reminder that football greatness cannot be explained in one word.
Sources:
- The Indian Express – report on Mbappé's interview for Sorare, including statements about Ronaldo, Messi and the 2022 World Cup final (link)
- AS – broader overview of Mbappé's interview for Sorare, including parts about Real Madrid, his career and the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry (link)
- Real Madrid C.F. – official profile of Kylian Mbappé and overview of his career, trophies and status at the club (link)
- Real Madrid C.F. – official historical page of Cristiano Ronaldo as a club legend and overview of trophies won with Real Madrid (link)
- FIFA – official report and statistics from the Argentina - France final at the 2022 World Cup (link)
- FIFA – overview of Mbappé's records and goals in World Cup finals (link)
- FIFA – official schedule of the 2026 World Cup and the tournament opening dates (link)
- Olympics.com – overview of Ballon d'Or winners and the context of Lionel Messi's and Cristiano Ronaldo's record wins (link)
- Inter Miami CF – official announcement about Messi's eighth Ballon d'Or and his status at the club (link)