Well, i am going to go with Mr. Cristiano Ronaldo, because of his long shots and his other strengths that @Amir_Keal mentioned in his thread 'Cristiano Ronaldo'. However, i do realise, that the Brazilian Ronaldo "The Phenomenon" was a lethal striker, a deadly finisher and had many other strengths as well... It was a hard decision to make, but i had to go with Cristiano...

Leave your thoughts and opinions down below... :)

PS. I got the idea from the homepage of FootyRoom - Sorry.. :)

@Emobot7 They have a new coach now.

@Golazo111 Thats right, hopefully, Sampoali will manage to use those player at their full potential at last. :D

Golazo111

We're all entitled to our all opinions, but I feel that you are a little too harsh on Messi. R9, Pele and Maradona all admitted that Messi was better than themselves and the best in the history. Considering it's unlikely you have watched Maradona in his prime it's to me harsh you push Messi so down.

Of course you have your statistic reasons, but I don't feel stats should show the true face of a comparison, if that makes sense.

Messi is surely better than Maradona at this point in his career. World Cups don't mean everything. Maradona cannot even be spoken on the same breath as Messi on a club level. Think about it this way: when people argue that Maradona is a greater player than Messi, they only ever repeat a singular point - Messi didn't win a World Cup. Maybe not, but I'd like to think that three Champions Leagues count for something!

I think Messi will be universally regarded as the greatest player in history when he retires. I also think Cristiano will be regarded as Top 3 all-time, if not then the second-greatest player of all time. What's scary is that Messi looks as if he's slowing down, but Cristiano looks like he's re-inventing himself in a completely different position as a completely different player - and still achieving an insane amount of success.

I mean, if Cristiano wins a 5th Ballon d'Or, then that's downright insane! 5 Ballon d'Ors? In what world would Maradona ever win 5 Ballon d'Ors? I know that it used to only be awarded to Europeans, but even still, Maradona wasn't consistently the best player in the world for that long.

I think Jose Mourinho's quote is frighteningly accurate: "If Messi and Ronaldo played in different eras, they would have won 10 Ballon d'Ors each". At this rate, it doesn't look like that's too far of a statement to make. Considering either Messi or Ronaldo will win again in 2017, they will have a combined record of 10 Ballon d'Ors.

Also rabid Barcelona fans will always hate on Cristiano Ronaldo and try to demean his success. Who in their right mind thinks that Ronaldo Nazario is a Top 5 all-time great and Cristiano isn't? Ronaldo Nazario isn't even better than Eusebio, Di Stefano, Puskas, Pele, Maradona, Messi, Cristiano, etc.

Ronaldo nazario is the best ever player alongside zidane! Don't let stats fool you, anyone who watched r9 play knows what he was.

Footballers are entertainers . Everyone is being entertained by the style they love . I would sit on the edge of my seat watching Ronaldo , Ronaldinho , Thiery Henry , Pavel Nedved , Edgar Davids , Seedorf and etc but my favorite Greatest of all time the brain and magician - Zidane ! Next day i would try to repeat their tricks during the game of football ! I don't care how good was Marodona or Pele , or how great is Ronaldo and Messi . I respect and like them all but I just don't find myself as excited whey they do their so called " magics " .

I like stylish football and Messi and Ronaldo styles don't fit my preferences . Hey more power to anyone else if you love them to death and will give up your left nut for them to prove either one is greatest of all time !

Considering it's unlikely you have watched Maradona in his prime it's to me harsh you push Messi so down.

Putting Maradona first is not putting Messi so down nor harsh, you don't understand how big Maradona is and what he has done for his country and all teams he played for.

Maradona cannot even be spoken on the same breath as Messi on a club level...

That's obvious since Messi has won more but when you look at Maradona's life and career and the time when he played, his club career was never going to be as stable as a football career of a player of today is.

I think Messi will be universally regarded as the greatest player in history when he retires. I also think Cristiano will be regarded as Top 3 all-time, if not then the second-greatest player of all time. What's scary is that Messi looks as if he's slowing down, but Cristiano looks like he's re-inventing himself in a completely different position as a completely different player - and still achieving an insane amount of success.

It's still universally said that Pele is the best player of all time, and Maradona as well.

For me it's easy to say that CR7 will be the obvious choice for the best European player of all time, but when counting whole world?

For me it's easy to compare CR7 with Manchester United greatest players, or Real Madrid's or Portugal's but I still can't put him in the same sentence with Maradona and Pele.

Diego Maradona loves Messi and even he said that "Messi has no personality, he's not a real leader", when a big patriot and a huge fan of Messi says that you know it's true.

Napoli is the only team from the south of Italy to have won Serie A, when Maradona played and 1 title they won when AC Milan defended their Champions League just like Real Madrid did this season but in a different format.

Argentina won 2 World Cups, once when Maradona played and won and because of that he has a church dedicated to him in Argentina, it was more than football when he became the hero.

The only thing Messi is missing is the World Cup, without it his career is not complete which is why Argentina has a new coach now and want to win it with this current generation of players, the amount of talent that Argentina has had in the last 20 years is amazing but they didn't win yet, I hope Messi is still hungry because he can win it it's a great team Argentina.

Lets not forget that at Messi's prime, Spain has had their best generation that won the World Cup and European championship as well, Messi went to the World Cup 2010 as the best player of the world, scored no goal and did nothing impressive while half of his teammates went on and made history.

@Dynastian98

I think Messi will be universally regarded as the greatest player in history when he retires. I also think Cristiano will be regarded as Top 3 all-time, if not then the second-greatest player of all time.

This is pretty spot on, but turn it the other way around. Cristiano will likely be universally regarded as the greatest player in history when he retires. People - including you, a Real Madrid fan - don't quite realize what is going to happen in the next few years. Ronaldo's hunger will make him the greatest at the end of the day.

Meh, I sound like a fanboy. But fact of the matter is: Right now, the legacies of Ronaldo and Messi are toe-to-toe with each other. The difference will be clarified in the next (and final) five-ten years.

But Ronaldo is better than Messi . I would take Ronaldo over Messi all day long in my team

Young Ronaldo was amazing to watch ! God damn those skills is exactly what I consider entertaining footballer !

@Marcus2011

But Ronaldo is better than Messi . I would take Ronaldo over Messi all day long in my team

Yeah, that's my point. However - right now, in 2017 - their legacies are as good as equal. Both are, irrefutably, shoo-ins on the top five greatest footballers of all time list. And they'll likely end up being the top two.

Why don't you comment with only one account ??? this is getting ridiculous...

Dynast Messi is slowing down ? Did you watched his season ? It was one of his best...
Problem is that he doesn't have the help necessary if your defense are cheesy and you need to come to midlefield to touch a ball.

Messi reinvented himself into a ten, a midlefield leader and that's not slowing down, that's even more valuable than ending like a finisher and even that he still outscored Suarez and Ronaldo this season...

This season CL decided the winner, but the best performer was in the wrong team.

Tiki should be banned for accusing people of having multiple accounts, thats a direct personal attack with no evidence towards me just to make me look bad.

I only have this one account.

Ps. CR7 is a real leader of a team, and he played much better than Messi this season.

Golazo111

Putting Maradona first is not putting Messi so down nor harsh, you don't understand how big Maradona is and what he has done for his country and all teams he played for.

Alright, fair enough. I don't feel that his 91 caps should make him 'the best'. You also say:

When Messi wins the world cup I will say he overcame Maradona, till that day he is only in 1 great team his whole life.

Messi has more caps, and more goals for his country. It's hard to compare two players when I've only seen one, but put it this way. Person X was loved and highly respected, and considered the Nation's best player of all time. Then person Y comes along, and within his early prime he scores 90+ goals and does many things that person X didn't manage to do. Me and (most likely) you have only seen person Y, and so has person X. Person X says person Y is better than him, even though he currently has no world cups.

Also, let's not forget that person X has no Champions League. Great players lead their teams to big trophies. Maradona has done that, but International play should not reflect everything.

Let's just go back to 2016. Eder, a Swansea reject, won the Euros for his country. Does that make him an all time great as he stepped up when needed in one instance? Don't think so.

You compare Eder to Diego Maradona? That's such a false comparison.

Eder only did one thing for Portugal throughout the entire tournament. Maradona led Argentina to two World Cup finals as their main player. Completely different scenarios.

Let's just go back to 2016. Eder, a Swansea reject, won the Euros for his country. Does that make him an all time great as he stepped up when needed in one instance? Don't think so.

You're right but that's why Messi will step up finally in 2018 like Eder did, he needs to take matters in his own hands like an all time great, I think with the new coach Argentina can win with their current generation.

Golazo111

You're right but that's why Messi will step up finally in 2018 like Eder did, he needs to take matters in his own hands like an all time great, I think with the new coach Argentina can win with their current generation.

Well I do hope to see Messi lift a world cup at some stage of his career. Sampaoli is surely better than Bauza and Tata.

But Ronaldo is better than Messi . I would take Ronaldo over Messi all day long in my team

CR7 is indeed a more complete player overall and a much better leader.

Cristiano worked his a$$ off for where he is now. Tons of players have huge potential, even greater than Cristiano, but only he trained as much as he can, fought for his name, fought for his country and fought for being the best player. You here players saying they wish to win Balon D or or World cup, but Ronaldo says he wants and will win them, thats the difference between a man and a boy. Ronaldo 9 is a great player no doubt, but he didnt took things seriously, same thing for Ronaldinho. They had 2-3 great seasons and poof, they vanished. I've heard enough about World cup shit, and both Messi and Ronaldo have defined themselves as all time greats long ago, right now they are just widening it. Plus whoever brought up Eder is a fucking idiot. He shot and scored a goal, thats great but denying the fact the Ronaldo wasnt the main influence to Portugals EURO means that you hate Ronaldo more than anything, and you dont understand football and you are just a piece of shit.

Messi and Ronaldo are both all time greats, we can only judge them is when they both end their careers, hopefully not soon.