World Cup survey: Football fans would rather see Messi win the World Cup than Ronaldo according to bet365

Football fans would rather see Lionel Messi win the World Cup than Cristiano Ronaldo.

That's according to a new bet365 Fan Nation Survey, which asked thousands of international football fans around the world: 'Who, if anyone, would you prefer to see win the World Cup out of Messi and Ronaldo?'

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The debate of who is the greatest footballer of all time will likely go on forever, with the majority of footballing fans siding with one rather than the other.

But for all the dozens of trophies each player has won on the domestic stage, silverware has been much harder to come by on the international scene, with both players winning just one major international trophy each.

Ronaldo won Euro 2016 in France, while Messi won his only Copa America title to date in Brazil last year, but the main prize of a World Cup winners medal has evaded both of them.

Messi and his Argentina side reached the final in Brazil in 2014 were defeated in extra time by Germany, where was Ronaldo and co have only made it past the Round of 16 on one occasion, when they reached the semi finals in 2006.

This current tournament in Qatar is likely to be the final World Cup that the two superstars take part in - Messi will be 39 and Ronaldo 41 by the time the 2026 World Cup comes to a close.

Who, if anyone, would you prefer to see win the World Cup out of Messi and Ronaldo?

• I would prefer Messi to win - 42%
• I would prefer Ronaldo to win - 30%
• I don't want either Messi or Ronaldo to win - 13%
• I don't have a preference between Messi or Ronaldo - 10%

Both players' nations have made it through to the knockout stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with both sides being touted by many to make it deep into the tournament - could this year be the year?

In Argentina, 96% of people are unsurprisingly siding with Messi, with just 2% rather seeing Ronaldo lift a World Cup.

Brazil opted for a 43%-21% split in favour of Ronaldo.

38% of England fans would rather see the Argentine win the World Cup, compared to 35% in favour of Ronaldo, with 11% stating they don't want either to win.

Argentina are currently joint-second favourites, priced at 11/2, to win their third ever World Cup trophy, while Portugal are slightly further behind at 11/1 with bet365.

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