Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi: 2022 World Cup Odds and Prediction
Lionel Messi will be on a mission to end Argentina’s 36-year World Cup championship drought when he hits the pitch as one of the favourites to claim Golden ball honours. Cristiano Ronaldo has remained coy about his future plans, but at 37 years of age, the time is now if the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to power Portugal to their first ever World Cup triumph.
Here’s a look at how these two superstars stack up on the World Cup odds as the clock ticks down toward kick off at Qatar 2022.
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Opportunity Knocks for Messi, Argentina
Since bursting onto the international soccer stage two decades ago, Lionel Messi has rewritten the record books in both club and international play. Among his accolades are 10 La Liga league championships and four UEFA Champions League titles. In addition, he finally tasted success on the international stage by leading the Argentina to victory at the 2021 Copa America. However, triumph has eluded Messi at the World Cup, with the closest Argentina has come to glory being a loss in the tournament final eight years ago. He enjoys an impressive supporting cast of rising stars at this year’s tourney, led by Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez.
Messi has put rivals on notice with a spectacular performance in pre-tournament friendlies, piling up 10 goals over five matches, including a sensational five-goal outing in a 5-0 rout of Estonia. Accordingly, he offers plenty of value as a narrow +134 favourite to outpace Ronaldo in goalscoring in Qatar.
The early headline in the tournament, however, is Argentina’s shocking 2-1 opening match loss to Saudi Arabia. It snapped a 36-game unbeaten streak for Argentina and is arguably the biggest upset in World Cup history. Will the stunning loss motivate or demoralize Messi and Argentina?
Ronaldo, Portugal Relishing Dark Horse Role
Considering Argentina’s recent dominance, and the recent struggles that Portugal have encountered on the international stage, La Albiceleste have earned their position as -128 favourites to go deeper than Portugal at the 2022 World Cup. However, sports bettors underestimate Ronaldo’s ability to singlehandedly lift the Portuguese side to another level. The Seleção earned Silver Boot honours while powering Portugal to victory at Euro 2016, and also tallied five goals at Euro 2020.
However, faced with off-pitch distractions, Ronaldo has been far from prolific in club and international play this season, scoring just once in 12 outings with Manchester United, and his two-goal performance in Portugal’s 4-0 Nations League win over Switzerland back in June are the only goals he has scored in nine appearances with the national side.
In addition to severely diminishing his chances of keeping pace with Messi on the scoresheet, Ronaldo’s recent slump and the absence of key players like Diogo Costa dramatically diminish his value on the World Cup specials. After drawing into a highly competitive group alongside Uruguay, South Korea, and Ghana, Ronaldo and Portugal face a tough road to the knockout round, and offer limited value as a +189 bet to outlast Argentina at this year’s tourney. And while he is worthy of consideration as a +202 bet to somehow outscore Messi, Ronaldo deservedly trails as a distant +448 long shot to rack up more assists.
Prediction: Argentina goes further in tourney (-128); Messi to score more goals (+134); Messi to record most assists (-306)