The 2022 FIFA World Cup is just around the corner and football fans are looking forward to seeing the best players in the world grace the pitches of Qatar.

It’s set to be a great tournament with the likes of Brazil, France, Argentina, England, Spain, Germany and Netherlands all expected to do well when looking at the free sports tips that WhichBookie have published for the upcoming tournament. 

However, the focus should be on two of the greatest players to have ever set foot on the football field as this will be the last time we will see both Lionel Messi and Ronaldo play in a World Cup.

Messi and Ronaldo have long been rivals on the pitch, in the friendliest way possible, and this will be their last chance to go head-to-head in football’s biggest competition.

Both players have picked up a string of honours throughout their careers which include winning the Champions League, the European Golden Shoe, the Ballon d’Or, La Liga titles and various other achievements over the years. However, there is one trophy that both players are missing from their cabinets – The World Cup.

Neither Messi with Argentina or Ronaldo with Portugal have ever won this tournament and at the ages of 35 and 37, this will surely be their final chance to do so. 

The Messi vs Ronaldo debate will continue long after both players have retired but adding a World Cup trophy to their honours list would give one of the two a huge boost above the other.

Argentina are one of the bookies favourites to go all the way this year and are priced at around 7/1. Portugal are 8th favourites at 14/1.

Both sides have the potential to win the World Cup this year but if they are to do so, their key players in Messi & Ronaldo will need to be in top form.

Looking at the World Cup Top Scorer market, the bookies have the pair side-by-side at odds of 16/1 with only Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema ahead of them in the pecking order.

Let’s take a look at Lionel Messi’s & Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup Stats.

Messi World Cup Stats

Lionel Messi has featured in four World Cup competitions throughout his career.

• Games played: 19
• Goals: 6
• Goals per game: 0.32
• Most World Cup Goals: 4 goals at Brazil 2014

Ronaldo World Cup Stats

Similar to Messi, Ronaldo has also played in four separate world cup tournaments with Qatar 2022 being his fifth.

• Games played: 17
• Goals: 7
• Goals per game: 0.41
• Most World Cup Goals: 4 goals at Russia 2018

As with many statistics involving the two, there’s not much between them in terms of World Cup scoring records. 

Both players should get their chances in front of goal during the group stages of the tournament with Argentina drawn into Group C along with Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland and Portugal in Group H with Ghana, Uruguay and Korea Republic.

It really is a toss of the coin as to whether Messi or Ronaldo grabs the most goals in the World Cup this year but with Argentina the more likely of the two teams to progress in the tournament, our bet would be on Lionel Messi, and at odds of 16/1, he looks like a very tempting wager indeed.