Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are set to do battle at The Best FIFA Football Awards on January 17.
While the Ballon d'Or might already have gone to the Paris Saint-Germain star, football's global governing body is waiting until the New Year to crown the best male footballer of 2021.
And although Robert Lewandowski is many people's favourite to retain FIFA's prize, you can rest assured that Ronaldo and Messi will be there or thereabouts even if they don't take home the gong.
Ronaldo and Messi at awards galas
However, regardless of who collects the premier prize in Zurich, we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that it will be safe for the main contenders to get together for the celebrations.
Besides, the COVID-19 pandemic ensured that Lewandowski, Ronaldo and Messi could only appear at the last awards gala virtually as they awaited to hear who would take the top accolade.
And while that was definitely a safe precaution for the time, we can only hope that it's normal service resumed in a few weeks when you consider how lovely it is to see all the top players together.
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Ronaldo and Messi chat in 2019
Well, that was certainly the case at the 2019 UEFA awards because the sight of Ronaldo and Messi being interviewed while they literally sat a few inches away from each other was truly special.
It's far from the first time that the iconic pair have rubbed shoulders at an awards gala, but the level of access, as well as the chemistry between the two, had arguably never been better than in 2019.
In fact, Ronaldo's handling of the situation was so lovely that footage of the exchange is one of the most popular football videos on YouTube with a staggering 51 million views at the time of writing.
Ronaldo shows his class to Messi
In what remains the most-viewed video on BT Sport's channel, Ronaldo can be seen showing superb respect for Messi and even quipping that he wants to go for dinner with him one day.
"We have shared the stage 15 years," Ronaldo said when asked if he missed his eternal rival. "I don't know if that's happened before - the same two guys on the same stage all the time.
"Of course, we have a good relationship. We haven't had dinner together yet, but I hope in the future.
"We had that battle in Spain. I pushed him and he pushed me as well. So it's good to be part of the history of football."
It really was the most intimate, revealing and heartwarming illustrations of the Ronaldo vs Messi debate for those beautifully classy comments coming while the pair were sat next to each other.
And although the flitting between languages meant that Messi couldn't make his voice heard quite as much, the Barcelona legend did later reveal that he would be happy to take up the offer of dinner.
Messi accepts Ronaldo's invitation
According to the BBC, Messi said when asked by South African sports channel Supersport TV whether he would go to dinner with Ronaldo: "Yes, I don't have any problem with that...
"We might not be friends because we've never shared a dressing room together but I always see him at award shows and there's no problem.
"I don't know if there will be a dinner because I don't know if our paths will cross for obvious reasons, each one of us has our own life and our own commitments. But obviously I would accept the invitation."
A special memory
So, who knows, maybe Ronaldo's show of class at the 2019 Champions League draw awards might have set the wheels in motion for dinner with Messi one day in the future.
You can only imagine that the sporting legends would want it to be an incredibly private affair, but let's not pretend as though it wouldn't do crazy buys on some sort of pay-per-view platform.
However, even if that candle-lit collision of footballing genius never comes to pass, seeing Ronaldo and Messi joking around right next to each other is still something to treasure.
