What happened in the GOAT race in 2024? Messi won Copa América again; Ronaldo became the first to 900 career goals. Here are the numbers, the trophies and the verdict for the calendar year.
Messi won Copa América again; Ronaldo became the first to 900 career goals.
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Across all competitions in 2024, Messi scored 27 goals and Ronaldo scored 44. Messi won Copa América again; Ronaldo became the first to 900 career goals.
Context matters: by 2024 both players had reshaped their roles — Messi a deeper creator, Ronaldo a pure penalty-box striker — and the goal-volume gap reflects league strength as much as form.
The 2024 silverware and the Ballon d'Or shortlist tell the story of which player had the bigger calendar year. In 2024 that swung close to even.
It was close — both had strong calendar years.
Messi 27, Ronaldo 44 across all competitions.
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