👉 Exhibition game in the context of Messi–Ronaldo rivalry
The Messi–Ronaldo rivalry, or Ronaldo–Messi rivalry, is a sporting rivalry in football propelled by the media and fans that involves Argentine footballer Lionel Messi and Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, mainly for being contemporaries and due to their similar records and sporting successes. They spent nine seasons in the prime of their careers facing off regularly while playing for rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Together, they have achieved various historical milestones, coming to be considered as two of the best footballers of all time. They are two of the most decorated players ever, having won 82 official trophies in total (Messi 48, Ronaldo 34) during their senior careers thus far, and have regularly broken the 50-goal barrier in a single season. According to IFFHS, they are the only two players to score over 800 goals each in their careers for club and country. Ronaldo holds the record for most official goals in a career.
England's first competition organised by a national body, the FA Cup, began in the 1871–72 season, making it one of the oldest football competitions in the world. Arsenal hold the record number of wins, with 14. League football began in the next decade with the founding of The Football League in 1888–89. The name First Division was adopted in 1892, when The Football League gained a second division. The First Division remained the highest division of the English league system until 1992, when the Premier League was founded. Manchester United and Liverpool have won the most top division titles overall, with 20 each. The English equivalent of the super cup began in 1898 with the inauguration of the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, pitting the best professional and amateur sides of the year against each other. The trophy would develop into the FA Charity Shield in 1908, which was later renamed the FA Community Shield in 2002. Manchester United also hold the record here, with 21 wins. The Football League created its own knockout competition in 1960, the League Cup. Its current record is ten wins, held by Liverpool. The Anglo-Italian League Cup was created in 1969 to match English cup winners against the winners of the Coppa Italia, but was permanently disbanded in 1976. In 1985, the Full Members' Cup and Football League Super Cup were created as substitutes for UEFA competitions after UEFA banned English clubs for a number of years following the Heysel Stadium disaster. They finished in 1992 and 1986, respectively. The Football League Centenary Trophy marked The Football League's 100th birthday, in the 1988–89 season.
Exhibition game in the context of List of football clubs by competitive honours won
This article lists men's association football clubs who have won 50 or more total competitive honours run by official governing bodies as well as women's clubs who have won 30 or more of such competitive honours. Friendly and invitational competitions and matches organized between clubs are not included.
Exhibition game in the context of UEFA Nations League
The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to increase revenue under the guise of minimizing friendlies and giving nations competitive encounters with equally ranked teams. Teams from all the European associations compete in a league structure featuring promotion and relegation.
The first tournament was in September 2018, with the four group winners from League A qualifying for the first finals, played in Portugal in June 2019. The host team, Portugal defeated the Netherlands in the final to become the inaugural competition winners. In 2021 France won the trophy by beating Spain in the host country, and Italy achieved 3rd place by beating Belgium. In the 2023 tournament, Spain won by beating Croatia on penalties. The current champions are Portugal, who defeated holdersSpain in the 2025 final to secure their second title.
Pelé began playing for Santos at age 15 and the Brazil national team at 16. During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups: 1958, 1962 and 1970, the only player to do so and the youngest player to win a World Cup (17), though he only played two matches during the 1962 edition. He was nicknamed O Rei (The King) following the 1958 tournament. With 77 goals in 92 games for Brazil, Pelé held the record as the national team's top goalscorer for over fifty years. At club level, he is Santos's all-time top goalscorer with 643 goals in 659 games. In a golden era for Santos, he led the club to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores, and to the 1962 and 1963 Intercontinental Cup. Credited with connecting the phrase "The Beautiful Game" with football, Pelé's "electrifying play and penchant for spectacular goals" made him a global star, and his teams toured internationally to take full advantage of his popularity. During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world. After retiring in 1977, Pelé was a worldwide ambassador for football and made many acting and commercial ventures. In 2010, he was named the honorary president of the New York Cosmos.
Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years it has occasionally fallen in the last week of March. As of 2025, Opening Day falls on the last Thursday of March or the first Thursday of April. In Nippon Professional Baseball, this day typically falls during the last week of March.
For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth; writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book titled Why Time Begins on Opening Day. Pre-season exhibition games are usually played in the month before Opening Day, during spring training. A home opener is a team's first game of the season on their home field.