With a victory on penalties against France, Argentina confirmed themselves as winners of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Many have stated that with the historic victory, Lionel Messi has finally set himself apart from Cristiano Ronaldo in the debate of who is the better player. It wasn't just the medal around his neck that fans are pointing to but his performances as well.
Going into this tournament neither Messi or Ronaldo had scored in the knockout stages of the World Cup. This was despite both players appearing at five tournaments each.
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Messi broke this rather unwanted record with a goal against Australia in the round of 16. He then added to his tally by becoming the first player to score in every single match of a full World Cup and of course, earned both a winner's medal and the Golden Ball for his exploits.
Ronaldo on the other hand was not so fortunate. The former Manchester United forward's tournament got off to a good start with a penalty against Ghana in the opening game - the penalty was dubious but the finish was not.
However, the rest of the tournament didn't go to plan for Ronaldo and Portugal. He blanked in the following two group games and to add insult to injury, head coach Fernando Santos decided to bench the 37-year-old for the next two games.
This paid off against Switzerland as his replacement Goncalo Ramos scored a hat-trick and Portugal won 6-1. However, in the next game they could not overcome Morocco and Ronaldo who was brought on at half-time couldn't do much to change that.
Given their advancing age, Messi is 35 and Ronaldo is 37, this will surely be the last World Cup they play at and therefore this unwanted record will likely be a blemish on Ronaldo's otherwise exceptional copybook alongside the empty space in his personal trophy cabinet for the World Cup. For Messi on the other hand, it doesn't exist.
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