Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have starred in their first ever joint advertisement promoting the luxury clothing brand Louis Vuitton.
Having dominated discussions over who is the greatest footballer of all time, the pair seem to have now swapped the football pitch for a checkered suitcase, partaking in a more cerebral game of chess.
And while it’s not known who won the chess match, Messi took to Instagram to announce the paid partnership, with the 35-year-old captioning his post: ‘Victory is a state of mind.’
Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo have appeared in a joint partnership on Instagram
The duo are both in Qatar with their national sides preparing for the 2022 World Cup.
The pair are both now preparing for the World Cup in Qatar but there are doubts over their fitness with questions rising over Lionel Messi’s fitness with the Argentine currently training on his own away from his team.
Concerns over Ronaldo’s fitness are also bubbling away, with the 37-year-old missing their warm up match against Nigeria with a stomach bug on Thursday.
Ronaldo touched down in Doha on Friday but missed Portugal’s warm-up game on Thursday.
Messi arrived in Doha on Thursday and despite injuries is expected to play on Tuseday.
Whether you align with team Ronaldo or sit in Messi’s corner, both are two of the most decorated footballers of the current generation, with Ronaldo being the world’s best goalscorer, having bagged 807 goals throughout his illustrious career.
The Argentinian wizard isn’t far behind him though and leads the way with seven Ballon d’Or’s to Ronaldo’s five.
Ronaldo meanwhile has more European cups, yet during his time in LaLiga, it was the former Barcelona star that claimed more Spanish championships.
Messi posted ‘Victory is a state of mind’ as the caption for the photo taken by Annie Leibovitz
Their legendary battles in El Clasico has dominated debates of who is the GOAT in football
While there may not be a definitive answer to who is the GOAT, and while we may never know who the better chess player is, it is clear there’s a lot of respect between both players, who have treated us to some incredible battles over the years.
During his controversial interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo shone an intriguing light on their relationship claiming that Messi is ‘magic’.
He said: ‘Amazing player [Messi] is magic. As a person, we share the stage 16 years, imagine, 16 years. We share. So, I have great relationship with him.
‘I’m not friend of him in terms of, what I mean friend is the guy who was with you in your house, speaking on the phone, no, but it’s like a teammate.
Ronaldo opened up on his relationship with Messi last week, heaping praise on the Argentine
Messi has been struggling with a reported ‘calf injury’ and trained on his own on Friday
‘He’s a guy that I really respect the way he always speak about me. Even his wife or my wife, my girlfriend, they always respect and they’re from Argentina.
‘My girlfriend is from Argentina. So good. What I am going to say about Messi? A great guy who does great things for football.’
With both in their mid-thirties, the upcoming World Cup may be the last time we see the legendary duo in action at the tournament, despite concerns arising over the Argentinian’s fitness this week.
And fans will be hopeful that the pair will lock horns in Qatar, with there being a slim chance that Portugal and Argentina could meet if they both reach the semi-finals.
Lionel Messi says he hasn’t thought about retirement yet
