Donald Trump names his greatest soccer player of all time, picks neither Messi nor Ronaldo

In a surprising revelation, US President Donald Trump named his greatest soccer player of all time - and it’s neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo.

While the two modern legends have dominated global football for over a decade, Trump opted for a more unconventional pick, praising Brazilian icon Pele as the ultimate GOAT after revealing he watched him play first-hand.

Trump attended the FIFA Club World Cup final on Sunday night at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, marking the end of a remarkable month of football hosted on American soil.


The President revealed his pick for the greatest soccer player of all time during a brief chat with the DAZN anchor, the official broadcaster of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.


"Many years ago, when I was young, they brought a player called Pele to play and he played for a team called the Cosmos," said Trump.

"And this place was packed - it was an earlier version of this stadium [the MetLife Stadium] and it was Pele."

"I don’t want to date myself but that was a long time ago and I was a young guy so I came to watch Pele and he was fantastic. So probably I’ll go old-fashioned - that’s like saying Babe Ruth - and say Pele was so great," Trump concluded.

The United States welcomed the world’s game across 12 venues, staging 63 matches featuring 32 club teams from every continent.