Cristiano Ronaldo admits his own son prefers another player and even says 'he is better than you'

Cristiano Ronaldo is regarded by many as the greatest of all time but his son, Mateo, believes one player is "better" than him right now – and he often likes to make it known.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward scored the 920th goal of his trophy-laden career on Sunday as Al Nassr secured a 3-1 win over Al Fateh in the Saudi Pro League.

He has well and truly completed football over the years, and holds the record for the most international goals scored by a player with 135 goals for Portugal, surpassing Ali Daei in September 2021.

As well as having the most Champions League goals in history with 141, Ronaldo has scored in four Champions League finals, which is more than any other player.

We could go on and on but in an upcoming interview with Spanish publication La Sextra, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner says his seven-year-old son, Mateo, thinks Kylian Mbappe is a better player.

"Mateo, he really likes Mbappe," Ronaldo said. "He sometimes tells me: 'Hey dad, Mbappe is better than you,' and I reply by saying: 'No, I am better than him, I have scored more goals."

Mbappe, meanwhile, is a huge admirer of Ronaldo. In fact, he used to have posters of the Portuguese forward on his bedroom walls as a child.

Growing up in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, the Frenchman was obsessed with the idea of replicating Ronaldo – and his father once said his son used to "spend hours" watching videos of CR7 on the internet.

A decade later and Mbappe opened up on how influential Portugal's number seven has been on his career during an interview with Spanish publication MARCA.

"He is a hero from my childhood and it was amazing to meet him when I visited Valdebebas," he said.

Ronaldo and Mbappe embrace at Euro 2024. Image credit: Getty

Mbappe's former teammate Abdou Diallo has previously given an insight into Mbappe's mindset when it came to the Ronaldo vs Messi debate.

Speaking in December, the defender said: "Cristiano Ronaldo is literally everything to Kylian Mbappe. If you mention Lionel Messi against Cristiano, Mbappe will debate with you for at least an hour."