Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could play together on the same team for the first time ever, as one of their former team-mates reveals an audacious plan.
In total, Messi and Ronaldo have played against each other 36 times over the course of their esteemed careers, with the Argentine leading with 16 wins to his rival’s 11, with nine draws featuring, too. Messi – who ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest players of all time – also tops the Ballon d’Or battle, with his eight surpassing Ronaldo’s five.
The pair last played against each other when a Riyadh All-Stars XI faced PSG in a 5-4 friendly in January 2023, but, with Messi in America and Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia, potential fixtures involving the pair have looked nigh-on impossible for the future. One of their former team-mates has other ideas, though.
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Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could play together
Carlos Tevez, who played with Messi in the Argentina national team and with Ronaldo at Manchester United, is set to host a farewell match at Boca Juniors’ La Bombonera in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, after retiring from professional football in June 2022.
While no date has been set for the match, the 41-year-old has some grand plans – including putting Messi and Ronaldo on the same team and bringing together some of the best team-mates he played with during his career.
“Yes, I’m going to do it [farewell game],” Tevez told OLGA. “I probably will do it. We just have to figure out when. It’s not easy. Leo Messi, Cristiano… we’re going to bring them. I’ll go get them myself. I have them saved in my WhatsApp.”
He added: “(Edwin) Van der Sar on one side and (Gianluigi) Buffon on the other.
“At centre back, we’ll probably have Rio Ferdinand, (Nemanja) Vidic… we’ll bring in (Giorgio) Chiellini, (Leonardo) Bonucci. Patrice Evra, my brother, he has to be there. Midfielders… (Andrea) Pirlo, Paul Scholes, Roman (Riquelme) will definitely be there. Rooney.”
Having played at Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus, among many other clubs during his career, Tevez certainly won’t be short of selecting some legendary figures from the past two decades of football.
Whether all of them will be able to play, however, is another matter entirely, not least with Messi and Ronaldo. The Inter Miami star’s season in MLS will run until at least November later this year, with Messi also set to compete in the Club World Cup in the summer as well.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, will have the summer off due to the way the Saudi Pro League’s season works before being back in action from August. He is also 40-years-old now as well, with a flight from the Middle East to South America difficult for his schedule.
