The rivalry lives! Ronaldo and Messi set for 'last dance' clash

Tom Weber

• 21 Nov 2023 11:09 CST
• 4 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are set for one final clash at club level in February 2024, it has been announced.

Billed as "The Last Dance," Ronaldo's Al-Nassr and Messi's Inter Miami will square up in the Riyadh Season Cup next year. The game will be part of a Miami pre-season tour that will also see them face Al-Nassr's hated rivals Al-Hilal, hailing from the Saudi capital as well.

An exact date for the fixture has not yet been announced, but it will likely mark the last time these two footballing greats will face off at the club level now that both play on different continents for the first time in their senior careers.

Messi, now 36, and Ronaldo, now 38, shaped the European football scene over the past 20 years with their intense rivalry. During that time Messi featured mostly for Barcelona, while Ronaldo lined up for hated rivals Real Madrid. The two broke countless records and drove each other to ever greater heights with Messi recently winning his record eighth Ballon d'Or, while Ronaldo boasts a total of five.

Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in January 2023 after having his contract terminated by Manchester United in the wake of an explosive interview. Since moving to Riyadh, Ronaldo has become the face of the Saudis' massive investment in football which has been, as recently admitted by the Pro League's vice president, mostly funded by the government.

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) November 21, 2023

Saudis get Messi after all

Lionel Messi, meanwhile, finished last season at PSG and decided to head to Inter Miami when his contract in Paris expired. It was the culmination of a pursuit that had really started with the founding of the Fort Lauderdale-based club. Owners David Beckham and Jorge Mas had been pursuing the Argentine legend for years.

However, Messi could have been lining up against Ronaldo more regularly in Saudi Arabia. Messi is a tourist ambassador for the Kingdom but snubbed a record-breaking offer from Al-Hilal prior to his move to the United States.

With the announcement of this fixture, the Saudis' lengthy pursuit of Messi has a happy ending, though perhaps not in the way the country's bigwigs had originally expected.

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