Who Was Better: Ronaldinho or Ronaldo?
Jan S0L0, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ronaldinho and Ronaldo are two of the most celebrated footballers of all time. The Brazilian and Portuguese forwards have won over hearts all across the globe for different reasons, helping young football fans fall in love with the game.
In this article, we ask, who was better: Ronaldinho or Ronaldo? We take a deep dive into both player’s careers and playing styles, as well as some of their key statistics, to help us decipher the answer. If you want to learn more about these two footballing greats, make sure to read on.
Table of Contents
Who Was Better: Ronaldinho or Ronaldo?
Cristiano Ronaldo was a better player than Ronaldinho, making more appearances, scoring more goals, recording more assists and winning more trophies. There is, however, an argument that Ronaldinho was the better player due to his entirely unique style of flair and dribbling, as well as winning a World Cup during his career.
Ronaldinho’s Playing Style
Ronaldinho’s playing style was particularly unique, blending a mixture of elite technical ability, showmanship, creativity and flair, and versatility.
Technical Ability
It’s clear that Ronaldinho has been one of the most technically-gifted footballers to ever play the game. He possessed an incredible first touch, as well as being one of a kind when it came to dribbling.
He would glide across football pitches with the ball, demonstrating elite skill to easily move past opposition players. Fans, pundits and reporters have spoken so highly of Ronaldinho’s dribbling ability that it was considered an art. He’s arguably one of two players to have ever been given this kind of recognition in the game.
Showmanship
In addition to his technical abilities, Ronaldinho was a showman at heart. He knew that he was a gifted footballer and used that to his advantage. By being able to humiliate his opponents through his dribbling, he played up to Barcelona crowds in the Nou Camp as well as on the international stage.
This is the way he won over millions of football fans, impressive them with his elite level footwork and showmanship throughout his career.
Creativity and Flair
Another aspect to Ronaldinho’s playing style was his creativity and flair. As discussed, the Brazilian attacker possessed impressive technical abilities, and these abilities helped him be the most creative player on the pitch.
Not many players are able to regularly pull off skill moves, but it was rare that a match went by without seeing Ronaldinho produce a magical, skilful moment. His abundant flair meant that defenders were scared to tackle him, knowing that he could easily manoeuvre the ball past them.
To put it simply, Ronaldinho arguably possessed the most flair in a football player that we’ve ever seen.
Versatility
Ronaldinho was also a versatile player, being able to play in a range of positions, in particular across the attacking forward line. He would often be deployed in different positions including attacking midfield, as a winger, and as a forward.
This is a football manager’s dream with a player that possesses the technical abilities of Ronaldinho.
Iconic Skill Move: The Elastico
Although Ronaldinho was renowned for his ability to conduct different skill moves during matches, there was one particular move that he made his own. The Elastico, otherwise known as the “Flip Flap” was a move that became synonymous with the name Ronaldinho during his career.
This move is where a player quickly moves the ball either left to right or right to left using the same foot. The speed at which the ball changes direction often catches out defenders. Watch the below video to see many examples of Ronaldinho performing his signature move:
Ronaldo’s Playing Style
Athleticism
Cristiano Ronaldo is renowned for his athleticism on the football pitch. A relatively tall person, Ronaldo has kept his physique in elite shape during a career that has spanned well over two decades.
He is able to jump really high to score headed opportunities, is strong with the ball at his feet and can move really quickly across the football pitch.
Speed
During his prime, Cristiano Ronaldo was a really fast player. Often operating as a left-winger, he would cruise past opposition full backs with his bristling pace, with or without the ball at his feet.
Who was the quicker player out of Ronaldinho and Ronaldo? It’s safe to say that Ronaldo was the faster player, as Ronaldinho relied more on his flair and dribbling abilities to beat opposition defenders.
Technical Ability
Likewise to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo also possesses elite level technical abilities with the ball at his feet. His ball-striking was impressive as well as his dribbling, first touch and heading abilities. These traits combined meant that the Portuguese forward was in the very highest percentiles for players with technical prowess.
Goalscoring Ability
Cristiano Ronaldo will always be remembered for being a goalscorer. He loved the glory of scoring a goal, and he was good at doing it, too. Having scored over 800 goals in his career, he will go down in history as one of the best goalscorers of all time.
He had the ability to score goals with both feet and his head, as well as at set-pieces. This made him the ultimate threat to opposition defences.
Iconic Skill Move: The Step-Over
Similarly to Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo ended up claiming a skill move of his own during his career. This skill move was the step-over, something that Ronaldo would repeatedly perform during matches.
It wouldn’t be uncommon to see the Portuguese star performing 10 consecutive step-overs in order to beat a man. Here’s a video of him performing several step-overs in the final seconds of a match against Arsenal in the Premier League:
Head-to-Head Comparison: Ronaldinho and Ronaldo
Now we’re going to compare Ronaldinho and Cristiano Ronaldo on the following metrics – appearances, goals, assists, red cards and yellows cards. All football data collection was done by TransferMarkt.
Appearances
| Ronaldinho Appearances | Ronaldo Appearances | |
| Club | 542 | 960 |
| International | 97 | 198 |
| Total | 639 | 1158 |
Looking at appearances, Ronaldo has made over 500 more than Ronaldinho throughout his career. With Ronaldo having made over 1100 appearances, there aren’t many players who can compete with the Portuguese star on this front.
Goals
| Ronaldinho Goals | Ronaldo Goals | |
| Club | 197 | 712 |
| International | 33 | 122 |
| Total | 230 | 834 |
There is a similar story when we look at the number of goals scored between these two players. Although Ronaldinho wasn’t necessarily renowned for his goalscoring ability, he did score 197 goals at club level and 33 on the international stage. Ronaldo is comfortable ahead in the race, though, having scored 600 more than the Brazilian.
Assists
| Ronaldinho Assists | Ronaldinho Assists per Game | Ronaldo Assists | Ronaldo Assists per Game | |
| Club | 163 | 0.30 | 225 | 0.23 |
| International | 28 | 0.29 | 43 | 0.22 |
| Total | 191 | 0.30 | 268 | 0.23 |
One of the metrics where Ronaldinho and Ronaldo are more competitive is assists. Ronaldinho played more of a provider role during his career, accumulating 191 assists. His tricky play meant he could beat defenders, helping him to reach the byline where he could cross the ball for his teammates to put the ball in the goal.
Ronaldo does come out on top again, though, having recorded over 70 more assists than Ronaldinho. However, it’s interesting to look at both player’s assists per game ratio. At both club and international level, Ronaldinho roughly produced an assists per game ratio of 0.30, which means that he was producing an assist 1 in every 3 matches.
This comes out higher than Ronaldo, who has an assists per game ratio of 0.23.
Red Cards
| Ronaldinho Red Cards | Ronaldinho 2nd Yellow Cards | Ronaldo Red Cards | Ronaldo 2nd Yellow Cards | |
| Club | 5 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| International | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 6 | 2 | 7 | 4 |
When looking at both player’s disciplinary record, we see some interesting results. In terms of red cards, Ronaldinho received one less straight red card than Ronaldo during his career, with 6. However, in relation to the number of games each player has played, it technically means that Ronaldo has the better record with just 7 straight red cards in over 1100 career matches.
Ronaldo comes out on top for 2nd yellow card offences having received 4 whereas Ronaldinho received 2. Out of both players, Ronaldinho is the only player to have been sent off playing for their country, receiving one straight red card and one 2nd yellow card offence for Brazil.
Ronaldo is still yet to receive a red card for Portugal.
Yellow Cards
| Ronaldinho Yellow Cards | Ronaldo Yellow Cards | |
| Club | 87 | 120 |
| International | 12 | 28 |
| Total | 99 | 148 |
In terms of yellow cards, Cristiano Ronaldo has received 49 more than Ronaldinho, but with the increased number of matches he’s played during his career, this outcome isn’t surprising.
How Many Trophies Did Ronaldinho and Ronaldo Win?
Ronaldinho Achievements
During his career, Ronaldinho won 15 trophies – 11 domestic honours and 4 on the international stage:
- Under-17 World Cup (Brazil) – 1997
- Copa América (Brazil) – 1998/99
- World Cup (Brazil) – 2002
- La Liga Champion (Barcelona) – 2004/05, 2005/06
- Best FIFA Men’s Player (Barcelona) – 2004, 2005
- Ballon d’Or – 2005
- Confederations Cup (Brazil) – 2005
- Champions League (Barcelona) – 2005/06
- Spanish Super Cup (Barcelona) – 2005/06, 2006/07
- UEFA Best Player in Europe (Barcelona) – 2006
- Copa Libertadores (Atlético Mineiro) – 2012/13
- Recopa Sudamericana (Atlético Mineiro) – 2013/14
Ronaldo Achievements
During his career, Ronaldo has won 46 trophies (excluding football of the year and player of the year honours) – 44 domestic honours and 2 on the international stage:
- Portuguese Super Cup (Sporting CP) – 2002
- English FA Cup (Manchester United) – 2004
- English League Cup (Manchester United) – 2006, 2009
- English Super Cup (Manchester United) – 2007, 2008
- English Premier League (Manchester United) – 2007, 2008, 2009
- Champions League (Manchester United and Real Madrid) – 2007/08, 2013/14, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18)
- FIFA Club World Cup Winner (Manchester United and Real Madrid) – 2008, 2014, 2016, 2017
- UEFA Best Player in Europe (Manchester United and Real Madrid) – 2008, 2014, 2016, 2017
- Best FIFA Men’s Player (Manchester United and Real Madrid) – 2008, 2016, 2017
- Ballon d’Or – 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017
- Spanish Cup (Real Madrid) – 2010/11, 2013/14
- Spanish Champion (Real Madrid) – 2011/12, 2016/17
- Spanish Super Cup (Real Madrid) – 2012/13, 2017/18
- UEFA Supercup (Real Madrid) – 2014/15, 2016/17, 2017/18
- European Champion (Portugal) – 2016
- Italian Champion (Juventus) – 2018/19, 2019/20
- Italian Super Cup (Juventus) – 2018/19, 2020/21
- UEFA Nations League (Portugal) – 2019
- Italian Cup (Juventus) – 2020/21
Ronaldinho and Ronaldo Achievements Comparison
Although Cristiano Ronaldo has won a significant number of trophies more than Ronaldinho (31 to be precise), the Brazilian has an impressive trophy collection considering the number of games he has played in comparison.
During his shorter career, he was able to win the World Cup (something Ronaldo hasn’t managed), the Copa América, the prestigious Ballon d’Or and the Champions League, all of which are on the bucket lists of many footballers across the world.
Conclusion
In most metrics, Cristiano Ronaldo comes out on top over Ronaldinho including number of trophies won, appearances, goals and assists. It’s worth noting that the Portuguese star will come out on top when comparing him to 99% of footballers to ever play the game.
Where Ronaldinho might be classed as a “better” player than Ronaldo is when it comes to skilful dribbling. Some fans and experts may argue otherwise, but many agree that Ronaldinho stands alone for flair and creativity with the ball at his feet.
He made people fall in love with the game in a different way to Ronaldo, with fans describing the way he played as art, and this is something entirely unique to the Brazilian.
Who was better: Ronaldinho or Ronaldo? Technically Ronaldo is the better player but in other ways we could consider Ronaldinho the better player, it is an incredibly subjective debate and one that often comes down to each person’s opinion.
We hope that you enjoyed this Elastico article and learned something new today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Ronaldinho Better Than Messi and Ronaldo?
It’s safe to say that Messi and Ronaldo stand alone when it comes to being the best football players to play the game. Their goal involvements and elite level skill sets are hard to compete with. Having said that, Brazilian maestro Ronaldinho has arguably had a similar cultural effect on the game through his iconic dribbling ability and flair.
Is Ronaldinho the Most Skilful Player Ever?
Arguably, Ronaldinho is the most skilful player to ever play professional football. He turned dribbling into an art, bamboozling opponents with ease through his creativity and flair. In some circles, it would be fair for him to stand alone as the most skilful footballer.
Who Does Ronaldinho Think Is the Best Footballer?
In 2015, during an interview with Marca, Ronaldinho stated that he thinks Lionel Messi is the best footballer. He said, “He is the best in the world, and there’s nothing more to be said.” His comments came weeks before the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or awards ceremony, which Messi won.
What Is Ronaldinho’s Full Name?
Ronaldinho’s full name is Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, otherwise known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho.
