Piers Morgan ranks Lionel Messi fourth best footballer of all time behind Cristiano Ronaldo in exchange for Jeff Stelling

PIERS MORGAN has named Lionel Messi the FOURTH greatest footballer of all time.

Messi, 35, sensationally reached his second World Cup final on Tuesday night when he scored and assisted in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Croatia.

3

3

But despite his great performances in Qatar, Morgan still believes Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player of all time.

The SunSport columnist began by crediting Messi and Argentina for reaching the final.

Speaking of Twitterhe said: “Congratulations to Argentina and Lionel Messi for reaching the World Cup final. I never doubted them.”

But England legend Gary Lineker, who has always claimed Messi is the greatest of all time, then asked Morgan: ‘Is there still a debate?

To which he replied, “There isn’t. It’s Ronaldo.”

Football Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling then urged him on his stance, saying: “So where do we stand now @piersmorgan in the Ronaldo vs. Messi debate?”

And Morgan responded by insisting that both Diego Maradona and Brazilian Ronaldo are also bigger legends than Messi.

He said: “I think Cristiano Ronaldo is the best ever, Maradona second, Messi third (possibly even fourth, behind R9 [Brazilian Ronaldo]).”

BET SPECIAL – BEST DEALS FOR EXISTING CUSTOMERS FOR DECEMBER 2022

Last month, Morgan’s explosive interview with Ronaldo finally resulted in his contract with Manchester United being terminated.

He then traveled to the World Cup with Portugal as a free agent and scored in the opening match against Ghana.

Battles against Uruguay and South Korea followed before he was eliminated in the round of 16 in a 6-1 win against Switzerland.

And Fernando Santos’ men were then eliminated by Morocco in the quarter-finals as Ronaldo’s hopes of winning the World Cup ended.

But his longtime rival Messi has kept his dream alive and will – in the eyes of many people – further cement himself as the all-time greatest with a win on Sunday.

3