Eden Hazard has weighed in on who is the greatest player of all time between Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo.
The debate is one that almost feels as old as soccer itself, with every support firmly in one camp between who is the best between Messi and Ronaldo.
With eight Ballon d’Or triumphs, a FIFA World Cup and the most trophies out of any player in history, there’s good reason for Messi to be the clear choice for this debate in 2024.
And speaking to L’Equipe, Hazard has now given his take on the debate, with the former Chelsea and Real Madrid star giving Messi the nod over Ronaldo.
As well as saying Messi is the greatest, Hazard also went one step further to claim that he is a better football player on a technical level than Ronaldo, a claim that could actually have some weight.
Hazard said: “Individually, Messi is perhaps the only one. I loved watching the Barcelona player, less so at the end, but he’s the greatest in history. It’s impossible to take the ball away from him.”
Lionel Messi is clear of Cristiano Ronaldo in the GOAT debate
For a time, you couldn’t separate Messi from Ronaldo in the greatest of all-time debate, such was the quality and the awesomeness of the two players in their La Liga primes.
Yet since Ronaldo’s move to Juventus, it’s become clear that Messi is the master of soccer and the best the sport will likely ever see.
The Argentine has won trophy after trophy with such brilliance that it’s easy to think that Messi is not from this planet, whilst Ronaldo has faltered and slipped both on and off the pitch.
Having now won the World Cup, the debate should be over already in regards to who is the greatest, with Messi by fan and away the best soccer has ever seen.