GOATs united - Louis Vuitton gets Messi and Ronaldo to team up for the first time

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have starred in their first-ever joint advertisement promoting the luxury clothing brand Louis Vuitton. 

Having dominated discussions over who is the greatest footballer of all time, the pair seem to have now swapped the football pitch for a checkered suitcase, partaking in a more cerebral game of chess. 

And while it's not known who won the chess match, Messi took to Instagram to announce the paid partnership, with the 35-year-old captioning his post: 'Victory is a state of mind' while Ronaldo posted on Twitter and Facebook too with the same caption. 

The pair are both now preparing for the World Cup in Qatar but there are doubts over their fitness with questions rising over Lionel Messi's fitness with the Argentine currently training on his own away from his team. 

Concerns over Ronaldo's fitness are also bubbling away, with the 37-year-old missing their warm-up match against Nigeria with a stomach bug on Thursday.

Whether you align with team Ronaldo or sit in Messi's corner, both are two of the most decorated footballers of the current generation, with Ronaldo being the world's best goalscorer, having bagged 807 goals throughout his illustrious career. 

The Argentinian wizard isn't far behind him though and leads the way with seven Ballons d'Or to Ronaldo's five. 

Ronaldo meanwhile has more European cups, yet during his time in LaLiga, it was the former Barcelona star that claimed more Spanish championships.

While there may not be a definitive answer to who is the GOAT, and while we may never know who the better chess player is, it is clear there's a lot of respect between both players, who have treated us to some incredible battles over the years. 

During his controversial interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo shone an intriguing light on their relationship claiming that Messi is "magic".

He said: "Amazing player [Messi] is magic. As a person, we share the stage 16 years, imagine, 16 years. We share. So, I have great relationship with him." 

"I'm not a friend of his in terms of, what I mean friend is the guy who was with you in your house, speaking on the phone, no, but it's like a teammate."

"He's a guy that I really respect the way he always speaks about me. Even his wife or my wife, my girlfriend, they always respect and they're from Argentina." 

"My girlfriend is from Argentina. So good. What I am going to say about Messi? A great guy who does great things for football."

With both in their mid-thirties, the upcoming World Cup may be the last time we see the legendary duo in action at the tournament, despite concerns arising over the Argentinian's fitness this week.

And fans will be hopeful that the pair will lock horns in Qatar, with there being a slim chance that Portugal and Argentina could meet if they both reach the semi-finals.