Former Watford captain Troy Deeney believes Cristiano Ronaldo’s failure to win the FIFA World Cup makes it difficult to rank the Portugal star among football’s greatest ever players.
Deeney shared his opinion after Portugal’s 2026 World Cup campaign came to an end with a Round of 16 defeat to Spain, ending Ronaldo’s latest attempt to lift the sport’s most prestigious trophy.
While acknowledging Ronaldo’s remarkable achievements throughout his career, the former striker argued that the absence of a World Cup title remains a significant gap in his résumé when discussing the greatest players in football history.
He also suggested that the 41 year old Al Nassr forward has relied heavily on teammates to create scoring opportunities rather than influencing games in multiple ways.
Speaking to Sun Football, Deeney said: “For football purists, you have to appreciate everything he’s achieved because he’s been a fantastic player. But when it comes to the greatest of all time, I don’t know if he belongs at the very top because he never won the biggest prize in football, the World Cup.”
Deeney’s comments are likely to reignite the long running GOAT debate, with Ronaldo’s legacy continuing to divide opinion despite his extraordinary list of individual and team accomplishments.
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