Where does Cristiano Ronaldo rank in the All time list?

[K2K]

He is about to break the Real Madrid all time scorer record at a rate above a goal a game, has won the 3 Ballon dórs and won everything in club football. With the debate about whether Messi is the greatest of all time, where would his greatest rival rank, and WHY?

 

[Raoul]

He is about to break the Real Madrid all time scorer record at a rate above a goal a game, has won the 3 Ballon dórs and won everything in club football. With the debate about whether Messi is the greatest of all time, where would his greatest rival rank, and WHY?

I think he and Messi will go down in a Pantheon above the rest when its all said and done. No two players will terrorize football for an extended period as they have, possibly in our lifetimes.

 

[paulscholes18]

2nd behind Messi,

To go to a different league and score more goals then games played also to smash Raul record in less then 400 games to what Raul played is amazing.

The gap from Ronaldo to the 3rd best is massive

Most complete forward of all time?

 

[Raw]

Top 10. The amount of goals he's scored is fecking extraordinary. No matter what you say about him scoring tap ins or penalties, the fact that he has 321 goals in 305 games is just mind boggling.

He could go goalless for the next 400 games and still have a better goals/games ratio than Raul.

Reason I haven't gone for top 3 is that he hasn't done something extra special like win a World Cup.

 

[Roman Bellic]

Top 10.

 

[Revan]

Top 10.

I think he's behind Messi, Pele and possibly Maradona and right there with Cruyff, Di Stefano and possibly Beckenbauer. These are in top 7, with the rest of top 10 being three from Best, Garrincha, Platini, Puskas and Zidane.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Definitely among top 10.

Top 3 however would Pele, Maradona and Messi.
Ronaldo imho should be ranked alongside with Cruyff, Di Stefano, Best and Beckenbauer etc.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

Top 10.

 

[Heardy]

Pele, Messi, Maradona, Ronaldo (probably in that order for now) > Every one else.

I think by the time they hang up their boots Messi and Ronaldo will be 1 and 2 due to sheer longevity, but to make the case right now, they need a World Cup to stake a claim.

 

[AngeloHenriquez]

I voted top 3 but need a tier between 3 and 10, 6/7 would make most sense..

 

[Revan]

Pele, Messi, Maradona, Ronaldo (probably in that order for now) > Every one else.

I think by the time they hang up their boots Messi and Ronaldo will be 1 and 2 due to sheer longevity, but to make the case right now, they need a World Cup to stake a claim.

Pele had longevity too, to be fair to him. I don't think that Ronaldo will surpass him, though I think that Messi had already done that.

 

[Adisa]

I don't really care about him but part of me is proud of him. Remember always getting frustrat d with him in his teenage years. From that to being one of the greats. Well done.

 

[Invictus]

Cristiano is Michel Platini or Ferenc Puskas level right now; just ahead of the likes of Eusebio, and behind Di Stefano and Cruyff. Might end up in the Top 5 by the end of his career, but I really doubt it. The productivity angle is being over-emphasized in placing him within the Top 5 right now, that will probably settle down once he retires, and his career is put in perspective.

 

[Spoony]

Flat track bully.

 

[RooneyLegend]

Cristiano is Michel Platini or Ferenc Puskas level right now; just ahead of the likes of Eusebio, and behind Di Stefano and Cruyff. Might end up in the Top 5 by the end of his career, but I really doubt it. The productivity angle is being over-emphasized in placing him within the Top 5 right now, that will probably settle down once he retires, and his career is put in perspective.

Why is he ahead of Eusebio?

 

[Heardy]

Pele had longevity too, to be fair to him. I don't think that Ronaldo will surpass him, though I think that Messi had already done that.

Yeah I guess you're right - I always think of Maradona being truly exceptional for a shorter period, and forget Pele won 3 world cups over 12 years!

Top 10 sounds too low for Ronaldo, especially if he carries on the way is currently playing - but Top 4 minimum expectation for me, then the debate as to whether he can ascend the heights of Pele / Maradona.

 

[Invictus]

Why is he ahead of Eusebio?

Relative strength of the domestic leagues, and the European Cup.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Top 20.

 

[Chicharito_]

I honestly believe him and Messi are the best 2 to ever play the game, it's just madness what they are doing at the moment and I think everyone will realise this most when they are no longer in the game.

They are playing 90 minutes 3 times a week and never look tired, never seem to get injured and play at such a high and consistent level - very lucky to have 2 of them in our era.

 

[Unlikely lad]

Top 2 since I've been watching football, not going to compare watching them week in week out to highlight reels of Eusebio and Pele.

 

[settembrini]

2nd behind Messi,

This.

If Messi had never been born Ronaldo would have been considered the greatest player ever by a considerable distance. Look at his insane achievements and then think how often he has been beaten into second place for an award by Messi (three times for the Ballon d'Or for instance) or how often Messi's Barcelona stopped him from winning a league or CL title.

The pair of them have been so far ahead of everyone else, for so long a length of time, that it's almost comical.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

I think fifth would be appropriate. He can certainly displace Cruyff but the top three (Pele, Maradona and Beckenbauer) have major tournament titles that Ronnie and Messi lack.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

3, 10 or 20? I'd say top 5. Put that in the poll.

 

[Spoony]

I think fifth would be appropriate. He can certainly displace Cruyff but the top three (Pele, Maradona and Beckenbauer) have major tournament titles that Ronnie and Messi lack.

Yep. Great stats but is he a truly great player?

 

[settembrini]

If Ronaldo didn't exist Messi would have won seven consecutive Ballon d'Ors. Think about that.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Yep. Great stats but is he a truly great player?

He is, I think, but he was born just a bit too late to win anything with Portugal.

 

[Invictus]

Even though this is largely a subjective topic, for what it's worth, Di Stefano had a ~0.90 ratio in the European Cup, created a benchmark for more than 40 seasons until Raul broke it, was Madrid's highest goalscorer for half a century, played a key role in almost half a dozen European Cup finals, was the Top Scorer 8 times in 3 different leagues, and to top it all off - was the most complete player in the history of football, ahead of even Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff. How Cristiano is being rated above him I really dunno.

 

[Adisa]

He can go without a league goal til year 2024 and still have a better goal to game ratio than Raul. Madness

 

[Adisa]

If Ronaldo didn't exist Messi would have won seven consecutive Ballon d'Ors. Think about that.

And vice versa.

 

[Andy_Cole]

I picked top 10. However you never know though. If he keeps this high standard up to 35-40 it would be insane. A World Cup on top of that (which seems impossible for Portugal) would put him to number 1.

 

[Adisa]

Tho

Flat track bully.

ught this nonsense has been debunked

 

[KM]

Top 10 easily.

 

[Spoony]

He is, I think, but he was born just a bit too late to win anything with Portugal.

It's a shame he played the majority of his career in a league that's a kin to the SPL on steroids. Well done Spain.

 

[Ødegaard]

If Messi is the unquestionable #1 of all time, then Ronaldo surely is in the top 5 at the very least. He is the only player capable of challenging the greatest of all time for the wpoty.

 

[Pink Moon]

Top 10. Never in a million years top 3.

 

[Roman Bellic]

People don't seem to rate Ronaldo de lima that much.

Pity.

 

[RooneyLegend]

Top 20. His failure to do anything substantial on the international stage hugely counts against him. Without the sheer dominance of his club side he's nothing of the sort of force his stats suggest he is.

Also in the true big games at club football level he hasn't been all that special either. For a player to be rated as high as some try to rate him he should be the stand out player in the tough games, he's been anything but that. Snatch a goal here and there but when was his truly great performance vs the Barca's and Bayerns of this world?

As I said previously, the unbalanced nature of european top level club football at the moment has caused a distortion of the facts. Look at poor Mesut Ozil, everyone thought he's a top 10 player at madrid and he was making an embarrassment of the assist stats, take him out of that and he's proved to be a semi dud for arsenal.

Madrid is so dominant that he can get 5-7 1 on 1's in a match. I just can't see how that equals to him being a top 10 greatest all time player.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Even though this is largely a subjective topic, for what it's worth, Di Stefano had a ~0.90 ratio in the European Cup, created a benchmark for more than 40 seasons until Raul broke it, was Madrid's highest goalscorer for half a century, played a key role in almost half a dozen European Cup finals, was the Top Scorer 8 times in 3 different leagues, and to top it all off - was the most complete player in the history of football, ahead of even Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff. How Cristiano is being rated above him I really dunno.

Time marches on and as players fall out of living memory their abilities are marginalized.

 

[Spoony]

People don't seem to rate Ronaldo de lima that much.

Pity.

They didn't see him at his peak. Possibly the second best player I've seen after Madonna.

 

[Raoul]

Top 20.

Somewhere just behind Gerrard no doubt.