Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey has backed Cristiano Ronaldo to become the top scorer at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Portuguese superstar has scored 938 goals from 1281 games across competitions in his career so far.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is the record goalscorer in international football, with 138 goals from 221 games. He also has eight goals from 22 games in the FIFA World Cup.
Speaking to bestbettingsites, Heskey was full of praise for Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I wouldn’t put it past him. His sole aim is to beat records, and I think he’s got the ability and opportunity to do that again at the World Cup. You don’t see him running around crazy like he used to. Now, he just knows where to be in the box and the team work for that. They will put the ball in the area for him, so he can still do it. His movement in the box is still great, even if there isn’t much from him on the rest of the pitch,” said Heskey.
He continued:
“Right now he needs to work on staying fit. He will know his body, and it’ll tell him when he’s doing too much. He will need a good relationship with his coach, so he pulls him out of games or sessions he doesn’t need to be in. It’s about managing his movement now, lasting the full 90 minutes.”
Cristiano Ronaldo won his second UEFA Nations League title with Portugal this summer.
How many World Cups has Cristiano Ronaldo featured in so far?
Cristiano Ronaldo could become the first player to feature in six World Cups, alongside Lionel Messi, when he takes to the field across the Atlantic for next year’s mega event. Interestingly, his bitter rival will be defending the title with next year, having won the Holy Grail of football in Qatar in 2022.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, will be hoping to finally get his hands on the elusive trophy to bridge the gap with La Pulga in the GOAT debate. The Portuguese first appeared in the mega event in 2006, where he reached the semifinals with his nation.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner also featured in the next four editions of the FIFA World Cup. His team was knocked out of the quarterfinals by Morocco in 2022. Interestingly, the 40-year-old is the only player to have scored in five editions of the mega event in history.
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Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over seven years at Sportskeeda. He has written more than 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 20 million reads.
Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer’s Wikipedia page.
Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina’s glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.
Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.
Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.
Edited by Deepungsu Pandit
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