Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo spent nearly two decades as the two dominant figures in world football, and their trophy cabinets grew alongside their rivalry.
Between them they have collected league titles on three continents, reached nine UEFA Champions League finals, won a combined 13 Ballon d’Or awards, and lifted the two biggest prizes in international football: the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship.
It is natural that their trophy counts get compared constantly. It is less natural that so many of those comparisons disagree with each other.
One site will say Messi has 44 trophies, another says 47, a third says 49. The same happens with Ronaldo, whose total is quoted anywhere from 34 to 36 depending on the source.
The gap usually comes down to definitions rather than disagreement over the facts. Some lists fold in individual awards like the Ballon d’Or alongside team trophies.
Some count age-restricted competitions, such as Olympic football, as if they were open senior honours. Some include unofficial exhibition trophies.
None of that is necessarily wrong, but it does mean the numbers are not directly comparable unless the same rules are applied to both players.
This article draws a clear line between team trophies, honours won by a squad in an official competition recognised by a governing body such as FIFA, UEFA, a national federation or a top-flight league, and individual awards, honours given to one player such as the Ballon d’Or or a Golden Boot.
Youth-level titles and age-restricted tournaments are excluded from the senior team trophy count and noted separately where relevant.
The same rules are applied to Messi and Ronaldo throughout, so every number in this article can be checked against the tables that support it.
This is not an attempt to settle who the greater player is. Trophies depend on teammates, timing and circumstance as much as on individual brilliance, and that context is part of the story too.
Messi vs Ronaldo Trophies: Side-by-Side
| Category | Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo | Leader |
| Club trophies | 41 | 33 | Messi |
| League titles | 12 | 8 | Messi |
| Domestic cups | 7 | 6 | Messi |
| Domestic super cups | 9 | 7 | Messi |
| UEFA Champions League | 4 | 5 | Ronaldo |
| FIFA Club World Cup | 3 | 4 | Ronaldo |
| International senior trophies | 4 | 3 | Messi |
| Major international trophies | 1 (World Cup) | 1 (Euro) | Tie |
| Total team trophies | 45 | 36 | Messi |
| Ballon d’Or | 8 | 5 | Messi |
| Individual awards (major, career) | 50+ | 50+ | Roughly even |
Team trophies and individual awards are kept separate throughout this article. The 45 and 36 totals above include only official senior team honours for club and country.
Lionel Messi’s Trophy Cabinet
Messi’s senior career spans three clubs and one national team across 22 years. Barcelona accounts for the largest share of his silverware by a wide margin.
Barcelona
2004 – 2021
- La Liga: 10 titles (2004-05, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2017-18, 2018-19)
- Copa del Rey: 7 titles (2008-09, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2020-21)
- Spanish Super Cup: 8 titles (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018)
- UEFA Champions League: 4 titles (2005-06, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2014-15)
- UEFA Super Cup: 3 titles (2009, 2011, 2015)
- FIFA Club World Cup: 3 titles (2009, 2011, 2015)
That is 35 official trophies at Barcelona alone, a total confirmed directly by the club when Messi departed in 2021.
Paris Saint-Germain
2021 – 2023
- Ligue 1: 2 titles (2021-22, 2022-23)
- Trophée des Champions: 1 title (2022, a 4-0 win over Nantes)
Three trophies across two seasons in Paris, both league titles won as part of a squad that also featured Kylian Mbappé and Neymar.
Inter Miami
2023 – present
- Leagues Cup: 1 title (2023, the club’s first-ever trophy, won on penalties in Nashville)
- Supporters’ Shield: 1 title (2024, awarded for finishing first in the MLS regular-season table)
- MLS Cup: 1 title (2025, a 3-1 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Only official MLS and Concacaf-sanctioned titles are counted here. The Supporters’ Shield is a recognised MLS trophy for the regular-season champion, distinct from the MLS Cup, which is the league’s actual playoff championship, so both are listed but tracked separately from “league titles” in the tables below.
Argentina
Senior debut 2005 – present
- FIFA World Cup: 1 title (2022, beating France on penalties in the final in Qatar)
- Copa América: 2 titles (2021, beating Brazil at the Maracanã; 2024, beating Colombia in Miami)
- Finalissima: 1 title (2022, a 3-0 win over Italy at Wembley)
That is four senior international trophies. Two competitions are deliberately excluded from this total: the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is a youth tournament, and the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medal, which is contested by age-restricted squads (under-23 plus three overage players) rather than a full senior team.
Both remain real, verified honours on Messi’s overall CV, they are simply not counted alongside senior trophies like the World Cup and Copa América.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Trophy Cabinet
Ronaldo’s senior career has run through five clubs across four countries and one national team, spanning more than two decades from Lisbon to Riyadh.
Sporting CP
2002 – 2003
- Portuguese Super Cup: 1 title (2002, the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira)
Manchester United
2003 – 2009, and 2021 – 2022
- Premier League: 3 titles (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09)
- FA Cup: 1 title (2003-04)
- League Cup: 2 titles (2005-06, 2008-09)
- Community Shield: 2 titles (2007, 2008)
- UEFA Champions League: 1 title (2007-08)
- FIFA Club World Cup: 1 title (2008)
All 10 of these trophies came in Ronaldo’s first spell at Old Trafford. His second stint, from 2021 to 2022, ended without a trophy before he left for Al Nassr in December 2022.
Real Madrid
2009 – 2018
- La Liga: 2 titles (2011-12, 2016-17)
- Copa del Rey: 2 titles (2010-11, 2013-14)
- Spanish Super Cup: 2 titles (2012, 2017)
- UEFA Champions League: 4 titles (2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18)
- UEFA Super Cup: 3 titles (2014, 2016, 2017)
- FIFA Club World Cup: 3 titles (2014, 2016, 2017)
Real Madrid’s own record-books credit Ronaldo with 16 trophies across his nine seasons in the Spanish capital, the peak of his club career and the source of most of his five Champions League titles.
Juventus
2018 – 2021
- Serie A: 2 titles (2018-19, 2019-20)
- Coppa Italia: 1 title (2020-21)
- Supercoppa Italiana: 2 titles (2018, 2020)
Five trophies in three seasons in Turin, though Juventus never advanced past the Champions League quarter-finals during his time there.
Al Nassr
2023 – present
- Saudi Pro League: 1 title (2025-26, Al Nassr’s first league crown since 2019, sealed on the final matchday against Damac)
Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia in January 2023 produced a three-and-a-half-year wait for an official trophy.
The 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, sometimes listed on unofficial trophy trackers, is a pre-season regional exhibition competition and is not counted here as an official senior honour, in keeping with the same standard applied to every other competition in this article.
Portugal
Senior debut 2003 – present
- UEFA European Championship: 1 title (2016, a 1-0 extra-time win over hosts France, though Ronaldo was substituted early with injury)
- UEFA Nations League: 2 titles (2019, beating the Netherlands as hosts; 2025, beating Spain in the final)
Three senior international trophies. The FIFA World Cup remains the one major honour missing from Ronaldo’s career after Portugal’s elimination by Spain in the round of 16 at the 2026 tournament.
Messi vs Ronaldo: Club Trophies
| Competition | Messi | Ronaldo | Leader |
| League titles | 12 | 8 | Messi |
| Domestic cups | 7 | 6 | Messi |
| Domestic super cups | 9 | 7 | Messi |
| UEFA Champions League | 4 | 5 | Ronaldo |
| UEFA Super Cup | 3 | 3 | Tie |
| FIFA Club World Cup | 3 | 4 | Ronaldo |
| MLS-specific (Leagues Cup, Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup) | 3 | 0 | Messi |
| Total club trophies | 41 | 33 | Messi |
The biggest gap between the two at club level comes from Messi’s long run at Barcelona, where a dominant era produced eight Spanish Super Cups and seven Copa del Rey titles alongside the league and European silverware.
Ronaldo’s club career is more evenly spread across five different clubs, which naturally limits how many trophies he could win at any single one, but it also gave him a Champions League edge: five titles across two clubs compared to Messi’s four, all at Barcelona.
Messi vs Ronaldo: International Trophies
| Competition | Messi (Argentina) | Ronaldo (Portugal) |
| FIFA World Cup | 1 (2022) | 0 |
| Copa América | 2 (2021, 2024) | — |
| UEFA European Championship | — | 1 (2016) |
| UEFA Nations League | — | 2 (2019, 2025) |
| Finalissima | 1 (2022) | 0 |
| Total senior international trophies | 4 | 3 |
Messi’s World Cup came in 2022, when Argentina beat France on penalties after a 3-3 draw in one of the most dramatic finals in tournament history.
Argentina returned to the final in 2026 as defending champions but lost 1-0 to Spain after extra time, so Messi’s international career closes with one World Cup from three final appearances.
Messi’s Copa América titles arrived in 2021 and 2024, ending a run of three runner-up finishes (2007, 2015, 2016) that had defined much of the earlier part of his international career.
Ronaldo’s Euro title came in 2016, when Portugal won their first-ever major trophy despite Ronaldo limping off injured early in the final against France.
Ronaldo’s Nations League titles came in 2019, on home soil against the Netherlands, and again in 2025 against Spain, making him the joint most-decorated player in the competition’s history.
Neither total is used here to argue which player performed better internationally.
Argentina and Portugal have faced different competition structures, group strengths and squad depth across two decades, and those differences matter as much as any individual contribution.
Messi vs Ronaldo: Champions League Trophies
| Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo | |
| Titles | 4 | 5 |
| Clubs | Barcelona | Manchester United, Real Madrid |
| Winning seasons | 2005-06, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2014-15 | 2007-08, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 |
| Consecutive titles | No back-to-back wins | Three straight (2016, 2017, 2018) |
This is Ronaldo’s clearest statistical edge over Messi in a single major competition.
He won the Champions League once at Manchester United in 2008 and four times at Real Madrid, including an unprecedented run of three consecutive titles from 2016 to 2018, a feat no player has matched since the competition adopted its current format.
Messi’s four titles all came at Barcelona, spread across three different eras of the club under three different head coaches.
He finished as the Champions League’s top scorer in three of those four winning campaigns, and shared the scoring lead in 2014–15.
Both players hold the record for most Champions League goals in the club’s history at their respective peak clubs, and both remain among the top scorers in the competition’s all-time list according to UEFA’s official records.
Messi vs Ronaldo: League Titles
| League | Messi | Ronaldo |
| La Liga | 10 | 2 |
| Premier League | 0 | 3 |
| Serie A | 0 | 2 |
| Ligue 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Saudi Pro League | 0 | 1 |
| MLS major domestic honors | 2 | 0 |
| Total top-flight league titles | 12 | 8 |
*The Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup are tracked here rather than as one combined “MLS title,” since MLS uses a playoff structure and the Supporters’ Shield only recognises the best regular-season record.
Messi’s La Liga total is built almost entirely at Barcelona over a 15-year span, in a league where the club won the title in roughly two of every three seasons he played.
Ronaldo has won league titles in four different countries, which speaks to his adaptability across different styles of football, even though his per-country totals are lower than Messi’s peak run at Barcelona.
His three Premier League titles came consecutively from 2007 to 2009, one of the most dominant stretches by a single club in that competition’s history.
Messi vs Ronaldo: Domestic Cups
| Cup | Messi | Ronaldo |
| Copa del Rey | 7 | 2 |
| FA Cup | 0 | 1 |
| League Cup (EFL Cup) | 0 | 2 |
| Coppa Italia | 0 | 1 |
| Total domestic cups | 7 | 6 |
Messi’s entire domestic cup total comes from seven Copa del Rey wins with Barcelona.
Ronaldo’s is more spread out: two Copa del Rey titles at Real Madrid, an FA Cup and two League Cups at Manchester United, and a Coppa Italia at Juventus.
Neither player has won a domestic cup competition outside of Spain, England and Italy respectively; Ligue 1’s Coupe de France, the MLS equivalents, and the Saudi King’s Cup have not featured in either man’s trophy haul.
Messi vs Ronaldo: Super Cup Trophies
Super cups are single-match, curtain-raiser competitions, typically contested between a league champion and a domestic cup winner.
They are counted as official trophies by the governing bodies that run them, which is why they appear in this article’s totals, but this section isolates them because they are the category most likely to cause confusion between different trophy-count websites.
| Super cup | Messi | Ronaldo |
| Spanish Super Cup (Supercopa de España) | 8 | 2 |
| UEFA Super Cup | 3 | 3 |
| English Community Shield | 0 | 2 |
| Supercoppa Italiana | 0 | 2 |
| Trophée des Champions | 1 | 0 |
| Portuguese Super Cup | 0 | 1 |
| Total super cups | 12 | 10 |
Some trophy trackers exclude super cups entirely on the basis that they are exhibition-style, one-off matches rather than full competitions decided over a season or knockout bracket.
Others count them fully, since they are organised, sanctioned and contested by senior first teams.
This article counts them, in line with how the Spanish, English, Italian, French and Portuguese federations themselves classify them, but keeps them visible in their own table so readers who prefer a stricter count can simply subtract this row.
Messi vs Ronaldo: Individual Awards
Important: Nothing in this section is included in the 45 and 36 team trophy totals used elsewhere in this article.
Individual awards recognise one player’s performance, not a team achievement, and mixing the two categories is one of the main reasons trophy counts vary so widely across the internet.
| Award | Messi | Ronaldo |
| Ballon d’Or | 8 | 5 |
| The Best FIFA Men’s Player (2016–present) | 3 | 2 |
| European Golden Shoe | 6 | 4 |
| FIFA World Cup Golden Ball | 2 (2014, 2022) | 0 |
| League top scorer awards (all competitions) | 8 Pichichi (Spain) | 3 Premier League, 2 La Liga Golden Boots |
Messi leads across nearly every major individual category, most notably the Ballon d’Or, where his eight wins remain the most by any player in the award’s history, three clear of Ronaldo’s five.
Both players’ individual honours are honours in their own right, but this article treats them as a separate ledger from team trophies, since crediting a team trophy total with individual awards double-counts recognition that already exists in a dedicated category.
Messi vs Ronaldo: World Cup Achievements
| Messi | Ronaldo | |
| World Cup appearances | 6 (2006–2026) | 6 (2006–2026) |
| World Cup goals | 21 | 10 |
| World Cup finals reached | 3 (2014, 2022, 2026) | 0 |
| World Cup titles | 1 (2022) | 0 |
| World Cup Golden Ball awards | 2 (2014, 2022) | 0 |
| World Cup record | Second all-time World Cup goalscorer | First man to score in six different World Cups |
Both players became the first men to appear in six FIFA World Cups, a landmark reached during the 2026 tournament in North America.
Messi is the tournament’s all-time second-highest goalscorer with 21 goals, one behind France’s Kylian Mbappé, and he is the only player ever to win the World Cup Golden Ball twice.
Ronaldo, who became the first player to score in six separate World Cups after his brace against Uzbekistan in the 2026 group stage, has never reached a World Cup final; his best result remains the quarter-finals with Portugal in 2006, and his 2026 campaign ended with a round-of-16 loss to Spain.
Argentina’s run to the 2026 final as defending champions ended in a 1-0 extra-time defeat to Spain, meaning Messi’s international career closed with one World Cup title from three final appearances rather than two.
Messi vs Ronaldo: European Success
| Messi | Ronaldo | |
| Champions League titles | 4 | 5 |
| Champions League top scorer seasons | 6 | 7 |
| European domestic league titles | 12 (La Liga, Ligue 1) | 7 (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A) |
| UEFA Super Cups | 3 | 3 |
| FIFA Club World Cups | 3 | 4 |
By UEFA’s official Champions League scoring records, both players rank among the top scorers in the competition’s history, with Ronaldo holding the outright record for most Champions League goals and Messi close behind.
Ronaldo’s edge in Champions League titles and Club World Cups is the clearest statistical case for his European club career outperforming Messi’s in pure trophy terms, even though Messi’s overall league title count in Europe remains higher because of his decade of Barcelona dominance.
Who Has More Trophies: Messi or Ronaldo?
Using the methodology applied throughout this article, official senior team trophies only, split from individual awards, and excluding youth and age-restricted competitions, Lionel Messi has won more team trophies than Cristiano Ronaldo, 45 to 36.
- Total team trophies: Messi 45, Ronaldo 36
- Club trophies: Messi 41, Ronaldo 33
- International trophies: Messi 4, Ronaldo 3
- Major trophies (World Cup, continental title, Champions League, top-flight league, major domestic cup, Club World Cup): Messi 25, Ronaldo 22
- Individual awards: Messi leads the Ballon d’Or count 8 to 5
The nine-trophy gap between the two is driven almost entirely by two things: Messi’s volume of domestic honours during Barcelona’s most dominant decade, and his additional Argentina trophy (four to Ronaldo’s three with Portugal, including the World Cup that Ronaldo has never won).
Ronaldo counters with a genuine and significant edge in the Champions League and the Club World Cup, the two most prestigious club competitions outside a domestic league title.
A trophy count is one lens for comparing two careers, not a verdict on which player was better.
It says nothing about goals scored, assists created, longevity, peak level, or performance in matches that did not end in silverware. Readers weighing the wider debate should treat this article as one data point among many, not the final word.
Messi vs Ronaldo Trophy Timeline
| Year | Messi | Ronaldo |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | — | First senior trophy: Portuguese Super Cup with Sporting CP |
| 2005 | First senior trophy: La Liga with Barcelona (2004-05 season) | — |
| 2006 | First Champions League title, aged 19 | — |
| 2007 | — | First Premier League title with Manchester United |
| 2008 | — | First Champions League title, aged 23 |
| 2016 | — | UEFA Euro title, Portugal’s first-ever major trophy |
| 2019 | — | First UEFA Nations League title with Portugal |
| 2021 | First senior international trophy: Copa América with Argentina | — |
| 2022 | FIFA World Cup with Argentina; Finalissima title | — |
| 2023 | Leagues Cup with Inter Miami, the club’s first trophy | — |
| 2024 | Copa América repeat; Supporters’ Shield with Inter Miami | — |
| 2025 | First MLS Cup with Inter Miami | Second UEFA Nations League title with Portugal |
| 2026 | — | First trophy with Al Nassr: the Saudi Pro League |
Messi vs Ronaldo: Trophies by Club
| Player | Club | Key trophies | Total (this methodology) |
| Messi | Barcelona | 10 La Liga, 4 UCL, 7 Copa del Rey | 35 |
| Messi | Paris Saint-Germain | 2 Ligue 1 | 3 |
| Messi | Inter Miami | 1 MLS Cup | 3 |
| Messi | Argentina | 1 World Cup, 2 Copa América | 4 |
| Ronaldo | Sporting CP | — | 1 |
| Ronaldo | Manchester United | 3 Premier League, 1 UCL | 10 |
| Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 2 La Liga, 4 UCL | 16 |
| Ronaldo | Juventus | 2 Serie A | 5 |
| Ronaldo | Al Nassr | 1 Saudi Pro League | 1 |
| Ronaldo | Portugal | 1 Euro, 2 Nations League | 3 |
Messi vs Ronaldo: Major Trophies Only
This is a stricter, analytical category, not an official FIFA or UEFA classification.
“Major trophy” here is defined as: the FIFA World Cup, a continental championship (Copa América or UEFA European Championship), the UEFA Champions League, a top-flight domestic league title, a major domestic cup (Copa del Rey, FA Cup, Coppa Italia), and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Super cups, league cups and regular-season-only honours like the Supporters’ Shield are excluded from this narrower count.
| Category | Messi | Ronaldo |
| World Cup | 1 | 0 |
| Continental championship | 2 | 1 |
| Champions League | 4 | 5 |
| Top-flight league | 12 | 8 |
| Major domestic cup | 7 | 4 |
| Club World Cup | 3 | 4 |
| Total major trophies | 29 | 22 |
Even under this stricter lens, which strips out super cups and secondary honours entirely, the overall picture does not change much: Messi leads 29 to 22, with Ronaldo still ahead in the two most prestigious European club competitions.
Interesting Facts About Messi and Ronaldo’s Trophy Careers
- Messi won the FIFA World Cup with Argentina in 2022, the one major trophy that had eluded him for most of his career.
- Ronaldo won the UEFA European Championship with Portugal in 2016, despite being substituted with injury 25 minutes into the final.
- Ronaldo has more UEFA Champions League titles than Messi, five to four.
- Messi has won two Copa América titles, in 2021 and 2024, after three previous runner-up finishes.
- Ronaldo has won the UEFA Nations League twice, in 2019 and 2025, both times as captain.
- Both players have won league titles in more than one country: Messi in Spain and France, Ronaldo in England, Spain, Italy and Saudi Arabia.
- Both have won the Champions League and lifted the FIFA Club World Cup multiple times.
- Both have won domestic cups and domestic super cups at more than one club.
- Messi’s eight Spanish Super Cup titles are more than any other player in the competition’s history.
- Ronaldo scored in a record six different editions of the FIFA World Cup, from 2006 to 2026.
- Messi is the only player to win the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball twice, in 2014 and 2022.
- Ronaldo’s three consecutive Champions League titles with Real Madrid, from 2016 to 2018, remain unmatched by any player since the competition’s rebrand.
- Messi’s first trophy was La Liga in 2004-05; Ronaldo’s first was the 2002 Portuguese Super Cup with Sporting CP.
- Messi waited until age 34 for his first senior trophy with Argentina, the 2021 Copa América.
- Ronaldo waited three and a half years for his first official trophy at Al Nassr, finally winning the Saudi Pro League in 2025-26.
- Messi’s Inter Miami won its first-ever trophy, the 2023 Leagues Cup, in his first summer with the club.
- Both Messi and Ronaldo reached six FIFA World Cups, joining a short list of players to do so.
- Messi has eight Ballon d’Or awards to Ronaldo’s five, the two largest totals in the award’s history.
- Argentina’s 2026 World Cup final defeat to Spain means Messi finished his international career with one World Cup title from three final appearances.
- Neither player has ever won a domestic cup outside the countries where they played league football; neither has a Coupe de France, MLS Open Cup equivalent, or Saudi King’s Cup.
- Messi’s 35 trophies at Barcelona is the most any player has won at a single club in the modern era, according to the club’s own records.
- Ronaldo’s 16 trophies at Real Madrid include four Champions Leagues, three UEFA Super Cups and three Club World Cups in nine seasons.
Conclusion
Under a single, consistent methodology applied equally to both players, Lionel Messi has won more team trophies than Cristiano Ronaldo, 45 to 36.
The gap is driven by Messi’s volume of domestic honours during Barcelona’s most successful decade and by his extra senior trophy with Argentina, the 2022 World Cup chief among them.
Messi’s biggest achievements are the 2022 World Cup, eight Ballon d’Or awards, and a Barcelona trophy haul that stands at 35 by the club’s own count.
Ronaldo’s biggest achievements are his five Champions League titles across two clubs, including an unmatched run of three straight from 2016 to 2018, and Portugal’s first-ever major trophy at Euro 2016.
Internationally, the two careers diverge sharply: Messi has the World Cup that Ronaldo has never won, while Ronaldo has two Nations League titles that Argentina has never contested.
In Europe, Ronaldo’s Champions League and Club World Cup record is the strongest part of his case, while Messi’s overall club trophy volume, built almost entirely at Barcelona, remains the largest of any modern player.
A trophy count is a useful, verifiable way to compare two careers side by side, but it is only one part of a much larger picture that includes goals, assists, longevity and the countless matches that never produced a trophy at all.
Both numbers in this article, 45 and 36, represent two of the most decorated careers the sport has ever produced.
