Cristiano Ronaldo gave "his most personal interview ever" to British journalist Piers Morgan, released this week in two parts. In the second part, on Thursday, Ronaldo talks about his aspirations to win World Cup... or lack of them.
"I haven't thought about it. Winning the World Cup? It's not a dream. Winning it isn't going to change my position in football", he said to a surprised Morgan, where he explained his instance: he doesn't believe that winning World Cup or not will make him be defined as a better player. "When you compete, you want to win. We've won three titles with Portugal. I'm grateful, happy. We'll fight to win the World Cup, but being the best just for winning it? Six, seven games, you think it's fair?"
These words will surely be used by Ronaldo's detractors (or Messi's fans), as the historic rivalry between the two took a twist in 2022 when Messi finally won World Cup for Argentina, the last big trophy he was missing. Ronaldo (and Messi) will likely be the only two footballers to have participated in six editions of the World Cup, from 2006 to 2026.
<social>https://x.com/TheAngryEuroLad/status/1985740943849635872</social>
Ronaldo added something quite coherent, that Argentina had already won two World Cups before Messi, but Portugal - certainly a much smaller country - "winning World Cup would be historic". But at the end of the day, it all comes down to how Ronaldo wants to be perceived, as the best footballer of all time... and doesn't want to bet it all on the risky gamble of winning one (and his final) World Cup. Do you agree with him?