Time to accept Messi as greatest of all time: Brazil’s Ronaldo

Brazilian football legend Ronaldo Nazario speaks of Argentine Lionel Messi. Photo agencies

Brazilian football legend Ronaldo Nazario has said Lionel Messi should be recognised as the greatest player of all time after the Argentine captain scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 World Cup victory over Algeria on June 16.

The three goals in Kansas City marked Messi’s first career World Cup hat-trick.

The performance brought his tournament total to 16 goals, tying him with Germany’s Miroslav Klose as the joint top scorer in World Cup history and moving him past Ronaldo's own career mark of 15 goals.

"The time has come for the world to stop hiding and accept the truth: he is the greatest footballer of all time," Ronaldo told Portuguese sports newspaper A Bola. "He continues to prove himself every season, in every major tournament, and even at the World Cup."

Ronaldo, a two-time World Cup winner, added that the match would be remembered in football history.

He added that he was not surprised to see his own goal-scoring record broken by Messi, noting that records are made to be broken and that Argentina enters the 2026 tournament as the defending champions. - UNB