Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have indicated that the tournament in Qatar could very well be their final World Cup appearance. With the superstars both approaching the end of their legendary careers, Ronaldo didn't hold back when asked about the prospect of one-upping Messi in Qatar. Speaking candidly, Ronaldo admitted it would be a great triumph to “checkmate” Messi at the FIFA 2022 World Cup, via B/R Football.

“Checkmate? Checkmate we are doing in our lives. Checkmate is not only in the chess game, [it] could be in life itself and I do it, in a lot of times. I don't know in this case from your question and to be straight, I would like it to be me, who wins the checkmate against him [Messi]. But let's see, it would be beautiful if this happened, as this happened already in the chess game. It would be magic if this happened in football,” said Ronaldo in a quote translated from his native Portuguese.

With this 2022 World Cup being the potential final major international tournament either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi play in, a matchup between Portugal and Argentina would be must-watch football. Ronaldo is clearly looking ahead to the potential showdown.

How can Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo meet at 2022 World Cup? 

A matchup between Portugal and Argentina would be possible. In order for it to occur, Portugal would need to win Group H and Argentina would need to place second in Group C, or the opposite, with Portugal coming second in its group while Argentina places first. Both teams would then need to win all of their knockout matches and advance to the World Cup final.

A World Cup final featuring Ronaldo and Messi would be an iconic ending to the international careers of two of football's all-time greats, and it's safe to say that CR7 has put a fair bit of thought into the possibility.