Messi & Ronaldo: The 25 most prolific years by a player in the 21st century

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are arguably the two greatest footballers in history.

What the superstar pair have achieved in the sport over the past 15 years or so is quite remarkable and may never be equalled by another player in the future.

Messi and Ronaldo have scored and assisted goals for fun, with the latter currently the leading scorer in men's professional football with 810 to his name.

The pair have broken so many records it's almost laughable, so when we decided to work out the 25 most prolific years by an individual player in the 21st century, we expected them to feature heavily.

And that certainly turned out to be the case, with Messi and Ronaldo taking up 15 of the 25 spots on the list - which is just ridiculous really.

So, let's take a look at the 25 individual years in full, with all the goal and assist numbers sourced from Transfermarkt.

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND - JANUARY 12: FIFA Ballon d'Or nominees Lionel Messi of Argentina and FC Barcelona (L) and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid smile during the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2014 at the Kongresshaus on January 12, 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)

The 25 most prolific years in the 21st century

Edinson Cavani, 2017 | 60 goal contributions (50 goals, 10 assists)

Dusan Tadic, 2019 | 61 goal contributions (30 goals, 31 assists)

Neymar, 2015 | 62 goal contributions (41 goals, 21 assists)

Luis Suarez, 2009 | 62 goal contributions (42 goals, 20 assists)

Lionel Messi, 2019 | 62 goal contributions (45 goals, 17 assists)

BARCELONA, SPAIN - AUGUST 04: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona waves to the crowd prior to the Joan Gamper trophy friendly match at Nou Camp on August 04, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Robert Lewandowski, 2021 | 62 goal contributions (56 goals, 6 assists)

Luis Suarez, 2015 | 65 goal contributions (42 goals, 23 assists)

Kylian Mbappe, 2021 | 65 goal contributions (43 goals, 22 assists)

Cristiano Ronaldo, 2010 | 64 goal contributions (45 goals, 19 assists)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 2016 | 66 goal contributions (50 goals, 16 assists)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates at Manchester United — MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 26: Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Manchester United celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Sunderland at Old Trafford on December 26, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Lionel Messi, 2017 | 69 goal contributions (50 goals, 19 assists)

Cristiano Ronaldo, 2012 | 69 goal contributions (58 goals, 11 assists)

Lionel Messi, 2015 | 71 goal contributions (45 goals, 26 assists)

Lionel Messi, 2014 | 71 goal contributions (50 goals, 21 assists)

Cristiano Ronaldo, 2011 | 72 goal contributions (53 goals, 19 assists)

MADRID, SPAIN - JANUARY 09: Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid celebrates after scoring Real's first goal during the La Liga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on January 9, 2011 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Lionel Messi, 2018 | 73 goal contributions (47 goals, 26 assists)

Luis Suarez, 2016 | 73 goal contributions (48 goals, 25 assists)

Cristiano Ronaldo, 2015 | 73 goal contributions (54 goals, 19 assists)

Jonathan Soriano, 2014 | 77 goal contributions (55 goals, 22 assists)

Cristiano Ronaldo, 2013 | 77 goal contributions (59 goals, 18 assists)

BARCELONA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 26: Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid celebrates scoring his sides opening goal during the Copa del Rey semi final second leg match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at the Camp Nou on February 26, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Lionel Messi, 2016 | 79 goal contributions (51 goals, 28 assists)

Cristiano Ronaldo, 2014 | 79 goal contributions (54 goals, 25 assists)

Lionel Messi, 2010 | 79 goal contributions (58 goals, 21 assists)

Lionel Messi, 2011 | 80 goal contributions (52 goals, 28 assists)

Lionel Messi, 2012 | 105 goal contributions (79 goals, 26 assists)

MALAGA, SPAIN - JANUARY 22: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the La Liga match between Malaga CF and FC Barcelona at Rosaleda Stadium on January 22, 2012 in Malaga, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Will we ever see a player surpass 100 goal contributions at club level in a single year again? In our opinion, no.

What Messi achieved in 2012 at Barcelona was extraordinary and it's fair to say the version of the Argentine from 2010 to 2012 is the most complete player the world has ever seen.

Because 264 goal contributions in three years is something that normally happens on FIFA or Football Manager, not actually in real-life...