Sportsnet soccer editor John Molinaro answers one of the world’s great sports debates by dissecting and illustrating each player’s strengths and weaknesses.

Below: The case for Lionel Messi.

(Click here if you prefer to read the Cristiano Ronaldo breakdown first.)

Soccer is the king of all sports in Argentina. It is the national pasttime, the national obsession.

The kids from the barrios and shantytowns of Buenos Aires, the country’s sprawling capital, as well as the bustling metropolises of Rosario and Cordoba, fill the streets and play on makeshift pitches from sunrise to sundown, honing their skills in pickup games in hopes of one day making it big.

A few do. But most don’t. But all of them aspire to follow in the footsteps of Diego Maradona, the country’s most famous athlete and one of the greatest soccer players of all-time. He led his country to World Cup glory in 1986.

Whenever a young soccer star emerges from the seemingly endless production line of Argentine talent, he is quickly labelled “the next Maradona.” Many have dared to ascend to the throne but only one man has done it.

It was Maradona, the king himself, who shortly after watching a Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Chelsea in 2006 boldly declared Lionel Messi as his heir apparent.

“I’ve seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentinian football and his name is Messi,” Maradona said. “He is beautiful to watch – my kind of player in our blue and white jersey. He’s a leader and is offering classes in beautiful football. He has something different to any other player in the world.”

Messi has played in three World Cups, but unlike Maradona, he has yet to win it. The Barcelona star will get another chance next month in Russia when he is expected to grace the sport’s biggest stage one last time.

But what makes Lionel Messi so special? How has he become, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, the greatest player of his era, and amongst the best of all time?

Sportsnet takes an in-depth look at Messi’s game.