Lionel Messi Hits Back at Cristiano Ronaldo's Taunt: 'Winning World Cup is Ultimate'

Hours after Cristiano Ronaldo took a jibe at Lionel Messi over his achievements, the Argentine has hit back. There is no doubt that Ronaldo and Messi are arguably the best footballers in the world and for years there has been professional rivalry between the two - thanks to their innumerable fans. Ronaldo demeaned Messi's World Cup win with Argentina in 2022 by saying that it is no big achievement to win the World Cup. Now, Messi has claimed that winning the WC is the biggest thing in football. 

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‘Winning the World Cup is the ultimate achievement’

Speaking at the America Business Forum in Florida, Messi said: “The truth is that explaining the feelings of that moment is difficult. It's hard to put into words what that title meant, on a personal level, on a family level, for my team-mates, and for the country. It was clear how the country celebrated, the need and the desire we had for it to happen again after so much time had passed.”

He added: “For me it was special. First, because for a player, winning the World Cup is the ultimate achievement. It's like anyone in their job, any professional reaching the top. There's nothing more after the World Cup. You can't ask for anything more. And on top of that, I had been lucky enough to have achieved everything before. At the club level, at the individual level. We had also won the Copa América with the national team. That was the missing piece. It was like closing out my entire career with that trophy.”

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Will Messi, CR7 Feature in Next WC? 

It is no secret that both Messi and Ronaldo are in the twilight phase of their career and there is much speculations over will they feature in the next World Cup or not. Currently, Messi features in the Major League Soccer as part of Inter Miami, whereas Ronaldo is part of the Al-Nassr side in the Saudi Pro League.