Big LEGO Messi or big LEGO Ronaldo? Um… probably neither

43016 Cristiano Ronaldo – Football Legend and 43015 Lionel Messi – Football Legend make for interesting LEGO sets, but even so are ultimately overshadowed by their minifigure counterparts.

Part of the wave of LEGO Editions sets being released to tie in with the 2026 World Cup are these large, 2-in-1 buildable statues of two stars often heralded as the greatest the game has ever seen: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Both feature in the excellent Football Highlights line-up releasing as part of this collection, and both also feature in this larger format in the form of 43016 Cristiano Ronaldo – Football Legend and 43015 Lionel Messi – Football Legend.

43016 Cristiano Ronaldo – Football Legend

Price: £69.99 / $79.99 / €79.99 Pieces: 854 LEGO: Buy now

43015 Lionel Messi – Football Legend

Price: £69.99 / $79.99 / €79.99 Pieces: 958 LEGO: Buy now

Given what these two players have achieved in the game the set names here are appropriate. Unfortunately, though, where the smaller vignette-based Football Highlights sets strike an excellent balance between LEGO charm and player-specific insight and fun, these two, larger Football Legend sets don’t quite strike the same chord.

Both have aspects that work in their favour – they are intelligent builds that offer two dynamic and completely different (in build as well as appearance) poses to choose between, and they offer much bigger display pieces for the football-obsessed fan looking for a quite unique way to pay tribute to their idols.

But as some of the highest-priced items in this initial wave of football-themed LEGO Editions sets (only 43018 Lionel Messi – Celebration is costlier), a novel concept offers up what will likely best be polarising results.

43016 Cristiano Ronaldo – Football Legend and 43015 Lionel Messi – Football Legend respectively give us a fully brick-built rendition of their eponymous footballers, first and foremost offering a unique LEGO experience you are likely not to have had before.

Before you start, though, you are immediately presented with a choice between two completely separate instruction booklets making up suitably different poses for each player, both with options between an in-action pose, or a celebration stance. For this review we went with the in-action pose for both.

Once you make that choice, novelty does keep the flow of each larger build going quite nicely – you are building into the unknown and it’s genuinely interesting to see how each of these sets come together, whilst some of the techniques included fairly represent the slightly older age recommendation on the box.

Curiously, while there are some references to Cristiano’s career in 43016 Cristiano Ronaldo – Football Legend and to Messi’s career in 43015 Lionel Messi – Football Legend, these are far fewer than we see and enjoy in the smaller, minifigure-centric 43012 Cristiano Ronaldo – Football Highlights and 43011 Lionel Messi – Football Highlights.

Indeed, focus for 43016 Cristiano Ronaldo – Football Legend is the giant ‘7’, the ‘CR’ initials attached to it, and the large brick-built version of Ronaldo, quite doll-like in appearance, thanks in no small part to that moulded, printed face piece. For 43015 Lionel Messi – Football Legend it’s a similar story, with a Messi nameplate, a giant ‘10’ and an equally doll-like, posed figure.

How these respective facets to 43016 and 43015 come together is very clever in places and there’s some design ingenuity to appreciate and learn from here. As final pieces, there’s something interesting about both 43016 Cristiano Ronaldo – Football Legend and 43015 Lionel Messi – Football Legend, at least in the configurations we picked to build.

The overhead kick action pose for Ronaldo and the running pose for Messi both feel alive, while Cristiano’s lines cleverly mirror those of the giant ‘7’ and Messi’s nameplate neatly sits between running legs. They are both clean, active poses that are interesting to build and novel to look at once complete.

But, as final pieces, there also feels like something is missing, and the clearest we can be is to say that both sets are imperfectly perfect. Where the smaller, minifigure-based footballer-focused Highlights sets feel like a fun, playful exploration and celebration of a particular player’s storied career and on-pitch individuality, there’s less connection to the same ideas with these Football Legend sets. Less connection to the players themselves.

Indeed, these are builds that – whilst novel to put together – feel like they dehumanise the subject matter a little too much. This isn’t a Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi LEGO set, per se, but more an action figure with Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi’s likeness attached to it, perfectly sculpted and symmetrical, somewhat poseable and incredibly shiny.

Unfortunately, so much so that the LEGO charm doesn’t quite cut through that tough exterior, instead leaving us with more an uncomfortable representation of the ‘bigger than any single person’, idolised – branded – versions of Ronaldo and Messi. It will likely be enough for those who do hero-worship CR7 and Leo, because they are both still perfect centre-pieces to any shrine you may or may not already have in your bedroom, and neither are an ugly display piece by any means, working a whole lot better than a lot of football-related sets from the past to actually translate something from the game into LEGO form.

But for the rest of us who also hold admiration for what Ronaldo and Messi have achieved but seek deeper connection to the material it feels too unnatural and too far removed from what really appeals about the best footballers in the world to truly connect on a playful, toyetic level.

43016 Cristiano Ronaldo – Football Legend and 43015 Lionel Messi – Football Legend make for fascinating LEGO sets and ones that very much make sense for LEGO Editions to put out – they are both in line with literally building a connection between fan and hero, and do so in a unique and original way. In addition, there are enough details, techniques and aspects to either set that will appeal to a lot of people.

At the same time, though, they do not resonate in quite as deep a way as the smaller, more affordable Highlights sets. Whether they need to or not is another matter, particularly when those Highlights sets do offer that very experience.

But, where the Highlights sets feel like true representations of one’s love for the game and for its stars (in far fewer pieces and with minifigures over brick-built characters), these larger Legends sets only skew closer to representations of each player’s out-of-touch, alter-ego, brand-built status, which is always harder to truly connect with.

Our honest opinion: These larger Legends sets are certainly clever and unique, but they don’t quite build that connection between fan and hero as much as the smaller Highlights sets do. In many ways, these bigger brick-built versions of Messi and Ronaldo are outshone by their minifigure counterparts.

These sets were provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes.

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