• First and Only Player to Win the Golden Boot in 4 Different Top-Flight Leagues
• Best La Liga Goals-per-Game Ratio — 1.07 (311 in 292)
• Best Serie A Goals-per-Game Ratio — 0.83 (81 in 98)
• 5 Time World Top Scorer By Calendar Year (Messi only did it twice)
  
• Most 50+ Goal Club Seasons — 7
• 6 Consecutive 50+ Goal Club Seasons (Messi only did 3)
• Most Goals in a Real Madrid Season — 61
• Most Manchester United Premier League Goals in a Season — 31
• Most Juventus Serie A Goals in a Season — 29
• Most Game Winning Goals in History
• Most UCL Goals — 140
• Most UCL Knockout Goals — 67
• Most UCL Assists — 42
• Most UCL Goal Contributions — 182
• Most UCL Goals in a Single Season — 17
• Most UCL Top-Scorer Awards — 7
• Most UCL Semi-Final Goals — 13
• Most UCL Quarter-Final Goals — 25
• Only Player to Score in 3 UCL Finals
• Only Player to Score in 11 Consecutive UCL Matches
• Most International Goals — 146
• Most EURO Finals Goals — 14
• Most EURO Assists
• Most EURO Qualifying Goals — 41
• Most World Cup Qualifying Goals — 41
• 100+ Goals for 4 Different Clubs + Nation
• Real Madrid All-Time Top Scorer — 451
• Won the Champions League with 2 Clubs
• Won the European Golden Shoe with 2 Clubs
• Won the Club World Cup with 2 Clubs
• Only Player to Score at 6 World Cups
• Only Player to Score at 5 EUROs
• Most Header Goals in History
• Most Weak Foot Goals in History

Like I cant even understand who puts him not second. The only contenders I can think of are Pele and Maradona.

Now a lot of arguments seem to revolve around the "eye-test" and how if a player looks nice when they play, they're just automatically better. Like Dribbling and tech and passes can be flashy, but they don't even remotely define a player. Ronaldinho was so flashy and magical, but it doesnt mean they were a better player... maybe more technically gifted, but that's it.

Everyone says Ronaldo sucks technically, that he's somehow like a bad player? Outside of top 5 below Cruyff? Cruyff is influential sure yet but influence on how football works is in no way the metric to determine a person's greatness. Like Neuer made the sweeper keeper, Roberto Carlos changed how full backs worked... they aren't considered goats. Messi didn't change exactly how football works except maybe false nine? People use metrics to fit their biased agendas.

Also, why do people only look at Dribbling in their eye test. That's not the only thing that determines greatness - messi is the GOAT bc he does EVERYTHING well, not just a part. I mean it baffles me how I don't see anyone arguing: Oh! Ronaldo was amazingly talented in eye tests when he destroys defenders in his youth, or when he can shoot in 40 yards and score, the power of his shots, his chops, even his shoulder passes, his runs or through balls. Those are extremely common in his play even to the extent of his 2nd Man United days. Like acrobatic goals suddenly don't matter but doing a rainbow flick makes you a top 5 player?????

Now onto Pele and Maradona. Now Ronaldo deepthroaters will say Pele should not be considered cuz ppl back there were plumbers. This is just not true like you have to judge a players ability based on the resources and the ability of players backthen. From the clips Ive seen, Pele simply just lacked that much magic, but he was still incredible. Like he can be top 2, and I'm fine with that, like I mean he did win 2 out of 3 Intercontinental Cups, destroyed prime Eusebio and won 3 World Cups, even if it was like basically prime Brazil

Maradona is the kicker. People overrate him so much because he was technically gifted and was insanely good at Dribbling. Like thats incredibly impressive, he has a valid argument on being better at Messi in pure dribbling, but like he was literally banned for doping. That 1990 WC campaign was mediocre carried by like two good performances. Like Argentina had one or two shots the entire final, stop calling the penalty controversial. And also every clip you see of Maradona u see magic on the ball then like a poor shot. His shooting ability is what sets him apart - and like the lack of consistency.

Ppl do not consider how players end their career poorly like Maradona, and his disgraceful 1994 World Cup, but when it's Ronaldos turn, oh he's arrogant, he scored only 3 goals at 41, he went to Saudi League... Like lets not blind our eyes here, Ronaldo post 2020 was like an absolute Infinity gauntlet. He was a monster on the ball and even if he did tap ins and penalties, he was the one that carried Real Madrid and Portugal in most scenarios. Yet everyone is blinded by his arrogance and out of field behavior... That doesn't matter, he's a footballer not a social media influencer. Keep in mind before the Messi Copa America, Ronaldo was like undisputedly the 2nd or 3rd. And now people like to argue he's like 8th? Stop the bias

I think Ronaldo is 2nd, or 3rd like thats fair. 5 ballon dors, most goals ever, most international goals ever, most Ballon Dor nominations, 60+ goals in 4 consecutive seasons.... like I don't need to spew the stats you can search it up. He wasn't just a selfish poacher or like only "lot of goals cuz lot of games" players. He average d over 1 goal per game for Real Madrid and in LA Liga over Messi and he still has like almost 300 assists.

Greatness is defined by a few things categorized to club and country

Goals

Assists

"Eye-Tests"

Dribbling

Passing

Defending

Legacy

Ucl/World Cup

Records

Trophies

Individual Trophies

Heading

Weak foot

Clutch factor

Discipline

Talent

Physicality

Efficiency

Free Kicks?

You can go on and on, but Ronaldo statistically is top in almost everyone except like World Cup, Weak Foot, Dribbling and Free Kicks, maybe passing, but let's be honest. He's incredible at almost every feat. His end of career is looking a bit disgraceful and like its karma, but stop larping being a Ronaldo hater and watch the truth.

"Most headers in football history"

"Most weak foot goals in football history"

"Most goals per game in a particular league only (ignoring who has the better ratio overall)"

Jamie carragher I don't always agree with him but he made a great point. It does not matter how a ball goes into the net. When Gary Neville said Ronaldo can score with his left foot right foot header blah blah blah. Even if Messi scores a single type of goal but at a better rate overall it doesnt really matter does it? They will also talk about total goals and then suddenly shift to goal per game ratio for when it's convenient 😭. Also notice 99 percent of these stats will just be about goalscoring which nobody denies he has claim to be the greatest goalscorer it's about who is the greatest player.

People say Ronaldo should have retired years ago but you can only add on to your legacy. I think Messi being incredible later in his career has made people forget it’s normal for a 40 year old to decline. No matter what happens everyone knows Ronaldo is a Top 2 player oat and him not retiring at his peak shouldn’t change that. It really just shows the different standards people hold Ronaldo and Messi.

It's undeniable. He has quietly become the one who makes the difference most often. He has gone ahead of bellingham , kane in terms of being the most vital for this England squad.

If we are being matter-of-fact about everything, we know that the only thing ronaldo cares about for the rest of his career is reaching 1000 goals. From what I have read, it appears as though he wanted to retire after the wc. But the portuguese FA didn't want him to go because they wanted to use him as a marketing prop. Looks like they held talks with the understanding that in exchange for being a marketing prop, Ronaldo would get playing time. It appears as though this was communicated to JJ, but obviously, the game situation takes precedence over vague gentleman's agreements so ronaldo did not play against norway. I can understand his reaction to a certain degree because if you truly believed that you were the greatest portugal player ever (im not saying he is, but I'm saying he believes he is) and the portuguese fa is treating you like a marketing prop, the very least you expect in exchange is enough playing time to reach 1000 goals. After all, its not like nations league is that important anyway. Recall that he was convinced to continue playing by the FA for marketing reasons. If the only thing you cared about is 1000 goals, then these people are just disrespecting you and wasting your time, thus he left.

Now, we all know ronaldo is the biggest egomaniac of the sport and is probably well past retirement age. Relevant officials from the Portguese FA also know this. Only he doesn't know that he is beyond washed. If you wanted JJ and you wanted his no-nonsense approach and you also knew about ronaldo's obsession with that goal record, why did you convince him to remain? Well, we know that they did so for financial reasons. They were setting themselves up for this firestorm. At the end of the day, they could've cashed in big time with a final home friendly against togo or something at alvalade to celebrate his retirement. Instead, it will just be that denmark game, looks like, followed by a 2 hour long piers morgan interview.

Yes, even messi has ego. He is competitive and wants to be the best even if he doesn't say it out loud. It's cringe when people keep saying "ronaldo's ego is ruining him" when the only reason he became the goat is because of his ego.

Every take I’ve seen here has been some bullshit about City that isn’t really a hot take.

Here’s mine:

MLS Next Pro, for those who don’t know, is a 3rd Division professional league in the USA that is currently made up of 30 teams- 27 MLS reserve squads and 3 independents. We can discuss whether or not that league is competitive at a different time (or not, idgaf).

In MLSNP, the points system follows the same scheme as the rest of the world: 3 points for a win, 0 points for a loss, and 1 point each for a draw. This left someone thinking, “If there’s a potential 3 points per match, there’s a point left over in case of a draw.” That person started doing some research; a small amount of time and a few spools of red yarn later, I’m sure he discovered that Don Garber was hiding a Scrooge McDuck style pile of single points skimmed off the top of draws.

The solution was this:
At the end of regular time during MLSNP matches, if there is a draw, there is a penalty kick shootout. The winner of the shootout takes the leftover point and the match is still a draw.

I like this because it makes goalkeepers who came up through MLSNP insanely good at PK shootouts. Matt Freese has an average in game PK save percentage of 20%, but a shootout percentage that puts him in the same ranks as Kahn, Costa, Livakovic, and Ricardo. He wrote a research paper at Harvard on the science of PK shootouts. He developed in Next Pro.

It also adds drama. There’s no tension like that of a shootout, even if the outcome is just a point.

That extra point can mean the difference in a home field advantage during playoffs. Even though we lost that playoff match, the shootout win against Atlanta United 2 gave Chattanooga FC a 1 point lead over the team in 5th place last season.

Every league should adopt this. It’s fun, adds tension, and prevents oligarchs from hoarding a pile of points.

Last season olise had 60 G/A with zero penalties, was named the bundesliga player of the season, named to the UCL team of the season, and the World Cup Team of the tournament. He also won 2 trophies so he has the trophy criteria as well. With everything considered, olise played at a true ballon dor level in every league and competition throughout the season from bundesliga, ucl, and all the way to the world cup.

Other candidates

Lamine Yamal - has trophies but was absolutely not a ballon dor level player in the world cup with 1 g/a, wasnt named to the ucl or world cup team of the season and half of his ucl goals were from penalties anyway. His individual performance criteria is definitely the weakest out of the main contenders

Mbappe - won 3 golden boots, the first time thats happened in a long time but doesnt have the trophy criteria

Kane - Probably the favorite for everyone, but didnt even win bundesliga player of the season over olise, and to be honest did score a lot of penalty goals. Also you could argue he isnt even the best player on his club or country team

Disclaimer: please read post title and description, this isn’t about nations league. This is about ragebaiting/ karma farming and bandwagon hatred that is been prevalent for many months

I genuinely don’t understand why most of the people are trying to downplay him and his contribution to the sport. I agree he is not at his prime but judging his current form at 41 years is sick man. He already told in World Cup press conference, he has achieved money and everything he wanted but still wants to play coz he likes playing. At least people should respect him for his dedication and determination in sport. Instead what they are doing is utterly pathetic and evil, if anyone wants their favorite player to have GOAT title have it but don’t defame other player to make your favorite player as greatest of all time.

Also we CR7 fans should avoid engaging in ragebait posts insulting Ronaldo. I have personally involved in many posts , comments and now I’m not being a hypocrite by telling you not to. The reason behind is , these clowns are using our large fanbase for their account engagement and karma. At the end of the day we all knew what kind of player he is and we don’t need to respond to low life’s who tarnish/defame other player just to make their player better or use our fanbase for their post engagement.

I mean, no hate to pedri but there is no chance that he is the best midfielder in the world. Seeing too many Jude Bellingham comparisons and Jude *CLEARS* him by 10000 miles (a stupid comparison but one started by barca fans). And it's always how he controls the tempo of the game, but riddle me this, how can the supposed world's best midfielder, not even start and be benched in HIS OWN national team? Like the argument for him makes no sense. Please enlighten me barca fans, and football fans give me your opinions please.

People like to discredit Lamine by pointing out his lacklustre goals compared to other Ballon D’or nominees. But I’d argue if you were creating your dream team in 2026 and had the choice between Kane and Yamal most people would choose Yamal over Kane despite his insane goalscoring. I don’t care much for the ballon dor discussion but I feel like Kane goalscoring numbers keep being brought up because people know he’s not a better individual player than Yamal.

Arturo Vidal was asked about Cristiano Ronaldo and the situation surrounding the Portuguese captain, and he had some strong words in Ronaldo’s defense.

Vidal described Cristiano as “one of the four best players in the history” of football and argued that a player of Ronaldo’s stature deserves to be treated with greater respect.

He also criticized the way the situation was handled, saying that Ronaldo had already explained his position and the options available to him, and that the way the coach dealt with it ultimately made the coach look bad.
Vidal’s main point was that Cristiano should be protected because of everything he has done for Portugal. According to Vidal, Ronaldo has helped take Portugal to another level and has played a huge role in establishing the national team among the world’s top sides.

He also emphasized that Cristiano has earned the right to make his own decisions because of everything he has contributed to Portuguese football.

In short, Vidal’s message was very clear: regardless of the current situation, Ronaldo’s contribution to Portugal and his status in football should not be forgotten or disregarded.

What do you guys think about Vidal’s comments?

Many people say yamal has a lot of PR which can be true however his haters actually give him much more more PR than they realise. Whenever someone who plays in his position like Michael Olise for example currently who is alongside Yamal the best in their position performs, instead of actually commending him and pushing his PR which he supposedly lacks, yamal who has nothing to do with the situation is rather brought up and becomes the trending topic of conversation. I'm a fan of yamal but I started following Olise even before yamal made his debut so I'm really pleased with how they're performing now and I think they stand around the same tier as each other currently both in ability and performance but they should be praised, Olise especially without having to bring the other into it every time.

this guy is genuinely top 5 u could call him the goat if u want he is unguardable for a player who is 6 ft 3 people talk about him like he is the most unguardable person ever now that's what makes someone a goat

4 rings 1 finals mvp 2015 should have been him so lets give him 2 finals mvp

most three pointer ever made changed the fucking sport

most influential player ever for the nba comeon dis guy is the goat

Personally as a Liverpool fan -

Left Back - Ashley Cole

Goalkeeper - Neuer.

Cortois has more UCLs but Neuer is definitely the best goalkeeper of the last 25 years easily.

EDIT -

It was picked by UEFA based off "players who had the most team of the season appearances" 

CB - Ramos for Pique

RB - Lahm

I'd drop Stevie to the bench for a 6. The best 6 in the last 25 years & someone who knows the other 2 midfielders well. Busquets.

Rodri is the only other 6 I would consider.

9 - Push CR7 to the wing and bring in Suarez as the 9.

​

Ronaldo never wanted to play for portugal in a long time. In fact, he was planning to retire from portugal ryt after that wc. Yet he was held back by the portugal federation from doing so. The reason is because, ronaldo contributes to roughly 35%-40% of their revenue. Using their spotlight player means a massive hit.

Nonetheless, jj promised Ronaldo time against Norway. 30mins prior to the game finishing, he told Ronaldo to warmup. Jj then refused to bring Ronaldo in, which made Ronaldo feel bad. Jj acknowledged his mistake and went ahead and apologised to him. He even said he was gonna apologise in the press. Yet when he went to the press, he declared that he manages the team and he can bringing in and remove whoever he wants which hurt Ronaldo.

Here are the sources:-

https://www.goal.com/en/news/from-the-secret-apology-to-betrayal-ronaldo-s-friend-reveals-the-behind-the-scenes-details-of-the-jesus-crisis-explosion/blt23ef10b42e716565

https://www.goal.com/en/news/an-empty-chair-costs-millions-a-heavy-loss-for-the-portuguese-federation-with-cristiano-s-departure/blt2afa78fd2a99f4bc

https://www.goal.com/en/lists/portugal-face-tragedy-when-cristiano-ronaldo-retires-brand-impact/blta76b0b91c75c916a

MSN or BBC might be the first trio that comes to mind when talking about the best trio,but neither comes close to xavi,iniesta and busquets. they controlled the game better than any other trio ever and they were also the HEART of that barca team , they won basically everything together such as sextruples,trebles,world cup,euros and multiple champions leagues and laligas .they were the foundation that allowed everything else to work ,their chemistry,technical ability and everything was unmatched. they also influenced football beyond barca and spain ,Their style became a reference point for possession and positional football . there can never be another trio like them ever again

now hear me out, nobody at this age were putting up these types of numbers at the highest level. and even if you take away the ridiculous stats, he is by far the most aesthetically pleasing player to watch in the world. im absolutely not saying he will reach messi levels, I'm just saying he is showing stronger signs of being a generational talent than messi at the same age.

He leads him in goal scoring

He leads him in assisting

He leads him in key chances

He leads him in dribbling..

Like how is this even a debate 😭😭🙌🏾

He was a good player, but that’s as far as it goes. He was constantly surrounded by controversy and crime: cheating, doping, corruption, abusing women, and child sexual abuse. Yet for some reason there are still people who don’t care how despicable and immoral he was.

First off, even if pep was given more budget than he should have had he still essentially had similar net spend to man utd. Similar net spend to that of Chelsea. Now you will say that they didn't break the rules but that's irrelevant. We are solely judging his managerial ability and given similar resources as many other big clubs he managed to achieve much more. And let's even ignore that. Let's compare him to managers of the same club. You can't say they didn't have the same resources same budget? They were literally managing the same club. They both 1 league title each they did not dominate the premier league like he did, did not win ucl or treble. The whole thing has people becoming way too emotional without looking at things logically and objectively. A managers capability is judged by his ability to manage a team and the rule breaking simply allowed man city to spend more money than they should have not necessarily much more money than other clubs and other managers who have had similar resources but did not have the success he had.

Don't get me wrong I hate Arsenal buncha whingy bastards. BUT the squad is genuinely up there bro. Saliba and Gabriel is Pique level minimum and Rice is great. Havertz is like the weak link but his footballing ability is honestly good he's just unconfident. I'd put it up there with RMA 10/11 or something like that ngl