Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are arguably the two greatest goalscorers in the history of football – but how do their assist records stack up against one another?

The two era-defining rivals have officially scored 874 and 938 goals, respectively. According to the IFFHS, this makes them football’s all-time top scorers.

Messi might be a couple of years younger than Ronaldo, but we can’t see him overhauling that 60+ goal gap by the time he finally hangs up his boots, given that the Portugal captain continues banging them out in Saudi Arabia at the age of 40.

But Messi is comfortably clear as the all-time top assist provider in football history, and that record will surely stand the test of time.

According to the official records, he’s notched well over a hundred more assists than his old foe.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has notched 388 assists for club and country at the time of writing – exactly 131 more than Ronaldo.

Over the course of his career, he’s registered an assist once every 236 minutes. Ronaldo, by comparison, notches an assist roughly once every four and a half games (every 407 minutes).

There’s a pretty similar discrepancy when you break it down between club and international records.

Messi has 110 more assists at club level than Ronaldo and 21 more on the international stage, despite playing fewer games and minutes on both fronts.

But Ronaldo beats Messi when it comes to the Champions League. He’s one ahead of Messi in Europe’s premier cup competition and three ahead when you look purely at the knockout stages.

There’s some discrepancy between different stats sites when it comes to Ronaldo’s true assist tally in the Champions League.

According to OPTA, he sits just behind Ryan Giggs in the all-time assist charts on 39. But according to UEFA’s official ranking, he’s out in front outright with 42. Our particular stats (via Transfermarkt) place him on 41.

Messi comfortably clears Ronaldo on international football’s biggest stage, though – he has eight assists to Ronaldo’s two at the World Cup, six of which were registered in high-stakes knockout games.

Ronaldo has never assisted (or scored) in his eight World Cup knockout stage appearances.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of Messi and Ronaldo’s career assist records:

Overall

Lionel Messi

Games: 1115
Minutes played: 91,592

Assists: 388⭐
Minutes per assist: 236⭐

Cristiano Ronaldo

Games: 1281
Minutes played: 104,698

Assists: 257
Minutes per assist: 407

Club

Lionel Messi

Games: 922
Minutes played: 75,645

Assists: 330⭐
Minutes per assist: 229⭐

Cristiano Ronaldo

Games: 1060
Minutes played: 87,070

Assists: 220
Minutes per assist: 395

International

Lionel Messi – Argentina

Games: 193
Minutes played: 15,947

Assists: 58⭐
Minutes per assist: 274⭐

Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal

Games: 221
Minutes played: 17,628

Assists: 37
Minutes per assist: 476

Champions League

Lionel Messi

Games (Knockouts): 163 (77)
Minutes played (Knockouts): 13,577 (6,675)

Assists (Knockouts): 40 (12)
Minutes per assist (Knockouts): 339⭐ (556)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Games (Knockouts): 183
Minutes played (Knockouts): 15,944 (7,543)

Assists (Knockouts): 41⭐ (15⭐)
Minutes per assist (Knockouts): 388 (502⭐)

World Cup

Lionel Messi

Games (Knockouts): 26 (12)
Minutes played (Knockouts): 2,314 (1,762)

Assists (Knockouts): 8⭐ (6⭐)
Minutes per assist (Knockouts): 289⭐ (293⭐)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Games (Knockouts): 22 (8)
Minutes played (Knockouts): 1,762 (569)

Assists (Knockouts): 2 (0)
Minutes per assist (Knockouts): 881 (N/A)

Since leaving Europe

Lionel Messi – Inter Miami

Games: 68
Minutes played: 5,523

Assists: 25 ⭐
Minutes per assist: 220 ⭐

Cristiano Ronaldo – Al-Nassr

Games: 111
Minutes played: 9,741

Assists: 19
Minutes per assist: 512

READ NEXT: Comparing Messi and Ronaldo’s stats as 37-year-olds – which veteran has aged better?

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name all 27 players who have played alongside both Messi and Ronaldo?