Cristiano Ronaldo Will Keep Scoring Goals Until He's 50 Years Old but a Different Real Madrid Legend is the GOAT, Says Eden Hazard

Soccer's GOAT debate is often framed as a two-way battle between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

But Zinedine Zidane is the greatest of all time in the eyes of Chelsea legend Eden Hazard.

Former Belgium captain Hazard - who scored 110 goals in 352 games for Chelsea between 2012 and 2019 - recently appeared on The Obi One Podcast.

While on the show, Hazard was asked by ex-Blues teammate John Obi Mikel: "Who is the GOAT? Ronaldo or Messi?"

Hazard replied: "For me, Messi is the one. Messi is the one, if you talk about football. But then people have different opinions.

"Ronaldo is the GOAT to score goals, to bring trophies to the team. This guy is... wow. Look at him now, he's 39. He is going to score goals until 50, believe me, 50!

"But my style of playing is Messi. But for me, the greatest is Zidane."

Ronaldo netted the 875th goal of his senior career last week. He now plays in Saudi Arabia with Al Nassr, but more than half of his goals to date were scored for Real Madrid between 2009 and 2018.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 875 career goals to date, including 450 for Real Madrid

IMAGO/DeFodi

Zidane played for Cannes, Bordeaux, Juventus and Real Madrid during his club career but his two most memorable matches both came at international level.

In 1998, Zidane was the Man of the Match in the FIFA World Cup final after scoring two goals for France in a 3-0 win over Brazil.

The last game of Zidane's playing career came eight years later in another World Cup final. After giving France an early lead with a nerveless panenka from the penalty spot, Zidane was sent off in extra time for headbutting Italy defender Marco Materazzi.

Italy won that final in a penalty shootout but Zidane did not end his career short of silverware.

Zidane won 15 trophies as a player, including the UEFA Champions League in 2002 after scoring a famous goal against Bayer Leverkusen in the final.

He has since won the Champions League three times as a manager by leading Real Madrid to glory in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Zidane was Hazard's manager at the Bernabeu for two seasons between 2019 and 2021.

Manager Zinedine Zidane pictured (left) with his arm around Eden Hazard during a UEFA Champions League game between Real Madrid and Chelsea in April 2021

IMAGO/Pressinphoto/Ruben Albarran

As well as being in awe of Zidane as a player, Hazard believes that the 51-year-old is one of the best managers around.

After being asked how Zidane would potentially fare as a manager in the Premier League, Hazard said: "Zizou is gonna have success everywhere.

"Everything this guy does in his life, he's going to have success. Believe me. It's like that. He's good at everything."

Zidane has been out of work since leaving the Bernabeu in 2021.