In the discussion about who is the greatest in history, it is always common to attribute the tiebreaker criterion to make the choice to winning the main title in world football: winning the World Cup.

For Messi and CR7, the 2022 edition, which will take place in the Middle East, appears to be the players' last opportunity to win the only title missing from their CVs.

And, thus, entering the Olympus of sport, which already has players of the caliber of Maradona, Zidane, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, and the greatest of all, King Pelé.

But who has the best chance of breaking this stigma and being able to take the World Cup to their country? This is what we will try to explain in this article.

Telling the story of the main Ballon d'Or winners who competed for the title of best in the world for many years separately is practically impossible to do.

They came to football practically at the same time, with a small difference of two years between their debuts.

Cristiano Ronaldo made his professional debut in Portugal in the 2002/2003 season. The Argentine made his debut at Barcelona in the 2004/2005 season, together with star Ronaldinho Gaúcho.

In 2008, the guy left Manchester United to be the star of Barcelona's main rival in Spanish and world football, Real Madrid.

For 10 years, they centralized football actions in the world, where El clásico touched the passions of the teams' fans and those who enjoy good football.

Between 2008 and 2019, the two players competed for the Ballon d'Or and FIFA The Best 12 times to be the best player of the season, with 11 awards in total.

It was six times for Maradona's successor and five times for the one who is considered the greatest Portuguese player of all time.

In addition, they won several top scorer awards in European football championships and seasons, in impressive numbers.

In the history of football, the Argentine from Rosario achieved:

The numbers of the Portuguese, born on Madeira Island, are impressive:

Each player's resume is impressive and fully qualifies them to be considered the greatest players of all time. For those who live today's football, this statement is true.

There is a lot of discussion about this premise, since many have not followed the careers of Maradona, Plattini, Ronaldo Fenômeno, Ronaldinho Gaúcho and Pelé, among other players.

One of the most used arguments to refute the statement is that, in order for them to be on this noble list, they need to have a World Cup to call their own.

The trajectory of the two players in World Cups follows almost the same way. The debut of both players was in the 2006 World Cup, in Germany.

The hosts were the thorn in the side of both Messi and CR7. The Argentine stopped in the quarter-finals on penalties, while the Portuguese saw Portugal take fourth place, after losing the third place match 3-1 to the Germans.

At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Messi went a little further than Cristiano. While the patriot fell in the round of 16 to the then champion, Spain, the Argentina of Maradona and Messi was defeated by Germany 4-0.

In 2014, Brazil saw two different appearances from stars from Portugal and Argentina. In a disastrous and uncreative performance, suffering a defeat in their debut against champions Germany, Portugal was eliminated in the first phase.

Meanwhile, Argentina progressed and confirmed its favoritism until reaching the grand final, at Maracanã. But in the middle of the way, once again, there was Germany.

With an incredible chance missed by Higuain in the first half, the title slipped through Messi's hands only in extra time, with Gotze's goal. In all the participations of the two stars, this edition was the one that was closest to one of them.

In 2018, with Argentina in shambles and with an unstable campaign, Messi and Co. were eliminated in the round of 16 against France by 4-3. Portugal also stopped at the same stage against Uruguay with goals from Cavani and Suárez.

For 2022, slightly different contexts direct their respective teams to the World Cup in the Middle East from November 20th. Let's see how Argentina and Portugal go to the World Cup.

Thinking about the current scenarios for the dispute in Qatar, the possibilities for each player are different and, at the same time, unprecedented.

Today, players don't reach the World Cup at their peak. Messi is starting to hit the ground running at PSG after 18 years at Barcelona, while CR7 is having a terrible time at United, being a reserve for the English team.

For their teams, the expectations of where they will reach the end of the World Cup differ according to the FIFA ranking and the favoritism shelf.

Portugal is in group H with Uruguay, South Korea and Ghana and could face Brazil in the round of 16. 

With a team questioned by the press and fans due to Fernando Santos' tactical scheme and the wealth of talents, such as João Felix and Bernardo Silva, the Portuguese try to break the predictions.

Cristiano Ronaldo says he intends to play in the 2026 World Cup, at the age of 41, but this could be his last chance at a high level to win the World Cup.

Messi and Argentina are in group C with Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Poland. The team has an unbeaten run of more than 30 games, is the current champion of the Copa América and has found the ideal formation after many years.

The player himself told the local press that the next World Cup is the last edition he will compete in. This further raises expectations for what we can expect from Argentina, which is currently on the top favorites shelf, along with Brazil and France.

The dispute between Messi and CR7 had many chapters that impacted football and its fans, but the whole story has an end. 

And the 2022 World Cup could be the final chapter and the last opportunity to unbalance this fierce dispute between who is the greatest of all.