Cristiano Ronaldo has named the only player who can compete with him and Lionel Messi in the ‘greatest of all time’ debate.

Ronaldo and Messi are considered two of the greatest of all time, with some believing that they are, in fact, the best in the history of football.

Others tend to mention figures such as Pelé, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff in the debate, while older fans may even include Alfredo Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás.

It’s a debate that fans will never universally agree on, but they all agree at least that Ronaldo and Messi are among the best.

In an interview with Piers Morgan last November, the presenter asked Ronaldo if Messi was the best player he had ever seen. He replied: “Probably, yes.

“Him and [Zinedine] Zidane probably, with whom I have played and competed.

“Messi is an incredible player, he is magic. As a person, we shared the stage for 16 years. Imagine, 16 years we shared.

“So I have a great relationship with him. I’m not his friend in the sense that, what I mean by friend is the guy who’s with you at home, talking on the phone. No, but he’s like a teammate.

“He’s a guy I really respect because of the way he always talks about me.”

Zidane, meanwhile, coached Ronaldo at Real Madrid between 2015 and 2018, and together they won three Champions League titles.

As a player, Zidane is considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time. He combined excellent passing and dribbling skills with a vision for the spectacular.

His final act as a player was to guide France to the World Cup final in 2006, but he was sent off after his famous headbutt on Italy’s Marco Materazzi. He retired from club and international football after the final, ending a career in which he played more than 800 times for club and country, scoring more than 150 goals.

Zidane won the Champions League and La Liga with Real Madrid, a Serie A title with Juventus and a World Cup and European Championship with France. He lifted the Ballon d’Or in 1998.

In 2017, the Frenchman named Ronaldo as his greatest player of all time.

He explained (quotes via ESPN): “There have been many players who have made history at this club [Real Madrid]. But nobody has done what he has done: the statistics speak for themselves.

“What he has done is amazing. So I think yes [he is the best ever].

“You know, I think Cristiano is much better [than me], although I had a good career.”