Compile a list of the best players in the history of the European Championships and Cristiano Ronaldo would be near the top, if not at it. So, too, were a similar exercise conducted for the Champions League. It is indisputable he is Portugal’s greatest ever player, certainly one of Real Madrid’s finest and, for his first spell more than his second, a Manchester United great. Assess the outstanding footballers of all time and Ronaldo would figure in the top 10; it is just a question where and it is safe to say millions of his devotees would put him above everyone else, Lionel Messi in particular.
So why is Ronaldo not in this selection of the World Cup’s top 50 players? Because he is not in the top 50 players in the history of the World Cup. At the risk of turning on fellow voters who did pick him, he isn’t in the best 100. His greatness has come in other competitions, not this.
