Super Eagles legend Austin “Jay-Jay” Okocha has chosen Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo in the debate over football’s greatest player.
Okocha made the choice while appearing on The Obi One Podcast, hosted by former Nigeria international John Obi Mikel and Chris McHardy. Mikel asked Okocha to choose between Messi and Ronaldo.
“Messi for me. Ronaldo is special, but he’s a goalscorer like Haaland,” Okocha said.
He then explained why Messi stands above Ronaldo in his own assessment.
“Messi is on another planet. He’s art. He was born to play football,” Okocha said.
The former Super Eagles captain also linked Messi’s identity closely to the sport.
“I think Messi would get ill if he didn’t play football,” he added.
Okocha compared Ronaldo with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland because of their goalscoring abilities.
“Ronaldo is a special player. But he’s, for me, a goalscorer. He can score 10 million goals. He is a goalscorer. It’s like Haaland. Haaland is a goalscorer,” Okocha said.
The Nigerian also gave Messi a higher rating for his all-round football ability rather than his goalscoring alone.
“But Messi, Messi, Messi is on another planet,” he added.
Messi has won eight Ballon d’Or awards, while Ronaldo has claimed five. Messi also captained Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup title in Qatar.
Ronaldo won the 2016 European Championship with Portugal and later helped the country win the UEFA Nations League in 2019 and 2025.
Okocha had also selected Messi in a previous GOAT debate. In that interview, he said both players deserved the GOAT tag but chose Messi because the Argentine looked more natural to him.
“They are both GOATs but my personal GOAT is Messi because he looks more natural to me,” Okocha said.
