Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have proven themselves time and time again why they are two of the best footballers of all time.
Okay, it's easy to throw legendary players like Pelé, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff into the mix, but the two five-time Ballon d'Or winners have been incredible in front of the net.
In fact, the folks over at WorldFootball and the Financial Times' John Burn-Murdoch have compiled their goalscoring stats and compared them with players since the 1980s.
It's safe to say that Messi and Ronaldo are in a league of their own.
The Barcelona captain has 579 goals to his name and scores on average 0.97 per 90 minutes. Meanwhile, the Juventus ace has 586 goals and scores on average 0.84 per 90 minutes.
With both players smashing their way past 500 goals -- and closing in on 600 -- former Manchester United and Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimović is in third place with 364 goals.
Let's throw a couple of other legends in for comparison, shall we?
Former Real Madrid striker Raúl has 363 goals to his name, while Premier League icon Alan Shearer scored 341 times.
When it comes to the top 40 single-year goalscoring performances since the 1980s, the 31-year-old Argentine magician and the 33-year-old Portuguese star once again showed their dominance in the modern game.
WorldFootball's data, which excludes penalties, can be viewed below.
While both players are in their 30s, they aren't showing signs of slowing down. However, it was recently revealed that Messi's stats were far superior to Ronaldo's stats this season.
Today also marks a special day for Messi, who signed his first professional contract with Barcelona 15 years ago.
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Who are your five favourite footballers of all time?
Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Football News, Football, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Raul, Alan Shearer, Pele, Johan Cruyff, Cristiano Ronaldo
