For more than a decade Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been at the center of a fierce and largely 1️⃣ unsettled debate over who is the greatest player in soccer history.

A decade from now, they might still be part of 1️⃣ that debate. Only the question then may be more like “who were those two guys who came before Kylian Mbappe 1️⃣ and Erling Haaland?”

That might sound like a bit of a stretch, but consider the evidence.

Ronaldo, 38, and Messi, 36, rewrote 1️⃣ the record books, redefined greatness and took the sport to new plateaus. Soccer is more popular, more profitable and better-played 1️⃣ than at any point in its history, and Ronaldo and Messi, who defined an era if not an entire sport, 1️⃣ are big reasons why.

Playing much of their careers against one another in Spain’s La Liga — Messi for Barcelona and 1️⃣ Ronaldo for Real Madrid — they pushed one another, combining for 19 league championships, four Champions League titles and 13 1️⃣ Ballon d’Or awards, achieving levels of greatness together neither could have reached alone.