As I had mentioned before the FIFA 2026 tournament started that I believe Ronaldo, not Messi will be the GOAT or at least a Co-GOAT. If you follow sports you know most fans love the underdog story especially when that underdog becomes the GOAT. Ronaldo, coming from absolute abject poverty whereas Messi was born into a relatively well-off family. Ronaldo single handler turned Portugal into a football superpower. Messi and Argentina not winning the 2026 World Cup despite all the controversy will likely diminish Messi’s GOAT myth for good especially because the 2030 World Cup will be at least partly hosted by Portugal and there is likely little to no chance Ronaldo is going to miss the opportunity to play on the same national team as his son in his home country where he is the undisputed greatest Portugal player of all time and most likely the most famous Portuguese person in modern times. Ronaldo scored in each of the consecutive six World Cups that he lead Portugal finishing no less than the 20th place achieving 4th place in 2006. Before Ronaldo, Portugal had never play in more than one World Cup in a row, failed to qualify for 14 World Cups and played in only three World Cups before Ronaldo was part of its senior national team. The crazy thing is Ronaldo could actually play in eight World Cups because Portugal automatically qualify for the 2030 World Cup as a co-host country and the 2034 World Cup is held in Saudi Arabia which Ronaldo played years of football at and still plays there to this day.
I have high confidence Ronaldo will have at least a more than outside chance of playing in that World Cup given his conditioning, discipline and the fact that he will still be in his forties which for Ronaldo is definitely possible even at a reduced role as a reserve or a player-manager. If he does play in that World Cup, he will be breaking many records that will likely not be broken for years to come. Unfortunately for Messi, once he and Argentina lost this World with all the controversies involving them and given where the next two World Cups will be held, there really isn’t that much motivating Messi to attend anymore World Cups though I think he may attend the 2030 World Cup. Also, in most sports, the most important record is typically the ones revolving around offense. And out of all the offensive records, the most desirable and most watched over record in almost every single sports is the total points record be it home runs, hits, points in basketball, goals in hockey or touchdowns in American gridiron football. At this point, Ronaldo’s points record is basically untouchable. Frankly speaking, Ronaldo is a physical specimen who can physically play competitive football at the highest levels for at least one more decade. I can’t say the same about Messi.
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Cristiano Ronaldo is the new GOAT.
When Messi was born in the last 1980s, Argentina’s economy in terms of GDP was ranked 16th largest in the world with 30+ million in population. Conversely, when Ronaldo was born the mid 1980s, Portugal’s GDP was ranked 117th in the world with 10+ million in population. Argentina now has nearly 50 million in population now whereas Portugal stayed at around 10+ million population. Argentina still have about 40% higher GDP numbers than Portugal at the moment. Before Messi became the face of Argentina football, there was Maradona and other legends who won two World Cups before Messi. While Portugal has great legends as well, Ronaldo is the greatest player from Portugal ever. Under Ronaldo, Portugal has consistently became a top five to ten team in the world with its highest ranking being number three. Argentina is thirty times larger than Portugal in landmass and one of the most resource rich countries in the world while Portugal is one of the poorest countries in the OECD and the Eurozone. A country that was colonized and subjugated by Africans, Middle Easterns and European powers for centuries. Although Portugal is in Europe and Argentina is in South America, Portugal appears to be much more tolerable of minorities than the historical policies of Argentina and its predominately Caucasian population on a continent that are predominately Hispanics of mixed descendent. I think the bottomline is Messi has almost zero chance being the GOAT now given his recent performance and the fact that in at least a large number of people’s minds Maradona is the GOAT of Argentina football.
Many people still believe Pele is the GOAT of South American football which also means Messi is not universally deemed the best player on his own continent. Ronaldo on the other hand is the unquestionable GOAT of Portugal football by the widest possible margin and the undisputed GOAT of European football, literally where all the best players play at the club level and where the best leagues are located. I genuinely thought if Messi and Argentina had won this World Cup, however controversial, would give Messi the GOAT lead. The funny thing is Argentina was actually ranked the number one team in the world just before the 2026 World Cup championship game. Considering Messi plays in the US MLS league and he is generally much more popular than Ronaldo in the US may have greatly diminished his greatness. Messi is definitely a GOATesque player, however, he really did not have much World Cup championship success until winning in the 2022 World Cup against his own teammates from France. I think the history book may question his Pandemic era win and win over a very close match against his teammates as a possible fluke at best. Given Messi’s current age and the locations of the next two World Cup, I think most likely Messi will be a strong and one of the leading candidates in the GOAT conversation but will most definitely not be the definitive GOAT. Not winning more than one World Cup and not getting the most important records like the goals basically will make his GOAT status almost indefensible plus his cultural impact was not greater than Pele nor Maradona. Ronaldo on the other hand is a legitimate folk hero who also happens to be extremely GOAT like. In ten years from now, who you think will get the GOAT treatment? I personally think Ronaldo’s rookie cards are between somewhat and slightly undervalued. I think the better play from a collectible cards standpoint while acting on this trend is buying Ronaldo Jr’s rookie base and rookie chase cards. These cards are extremely undervalued at the moment.
The 2030 World Cup will be the Centenary of the World Cup tournament, likely with special celebrations. Ronaldo Jr. will turn 20 within days of the start of the tournament in Portugal and around 24 when it is hosted in Saudi Arabia a football system that he is part of. He will also likely be on the same team as his father in Saudi Arabia very soon. Per credible report, he is quite skillful and is already six feet tall barely turning 16. His father is six foot two and his mother is five foot six. I think there is a very high probability that he grow another one to three inches even with intense athletics training at a young age. If he play against Messi’s kid(s) later in his career at the highest professional football level, that will just make him more marketable and more legendary as a player. Thiago, Messi’s oldest kid who is 13 and plays football is currently around five feet tall. Given Messi is around five foot seven and his wife is around five foot two, it is not very likely that Thiago will grow to six feet tall. This will be very problematic in this situation as the kids of GOATesque players usually do not do that well especially if they are not relatively physically gifted. Boys’ growth spurt typically happen between 13 to 16. Growth spurts usually occur during summer time and if the information is accurate, summer is almost over and he is around 5 feet tall right now. Per reports he is more skills oriented, he will likely even be more disadvantaged as many of the second generation athletes usually have parent(s) who are able to dedicate much of their time training their kid(s) on athletics if they so choose to on both sides. It is also highly unlikely that Thiago will play with Messi in the 2030 World Cup given he will only be 17 at the time. It will also may be unrealistic for him to play in 2034 World Cup with Messi as he will likely not be ready at that time and Messi will have a high likelihood of retiring before then. Ronaldo and Ronaldo Jr. on the other hand will likely be headliners of the event if they both play in 2030 and 2034 World Cup due to where the matches will be played at. For these reasons, I believe Ronaldo Jr. base rookie cards at a few USD per card and rookie chase cards such as numbered RPAs if at less than $100 USD are possibly some of the best investments in collectible cards now when looking at this situation years from now in hindsight. I view buying Ronaldo Jr. cards at this stage the same way I view buying Bronny James rookie cards at this stage except I think Ronaldo Jr. actually have a realistic opportunity of becoming a superstar or possibly more than a superstar.