Cristiano Ronaldo refuses to speak to Gary Lineker after one comment upset him
Gary Lineker has secured a number of high-profile guests to appear on his 'The Rest is Football' podcast during the World Cup - but Cristiano Ronaldo probably won't be among them.
'The Rest is Football', featuring Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, will be broadcast on Netflix for the first time during the World Cup after the streaming giant agreed a deal with Lineker's Goalhanger Podcasts group.
It will be broadcast as a daily TV show from Wednesday, June 10, with Lineker, Shearer and Richards - the latter two of whom will also work for BBC - based in the US for the entire tournament.
Among the football stars joining them include Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, who made his feelings clear on social media after being left out of Thomas Tuchel's final 26-man England squad for the World Cup.
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England icons Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard will also make guest appearances, along with Arsenal and France legend Patrick Vieira and former Lionesses star Millie Bright, who won Euro 2022 with England before retiring from international football prior to the victorious Euro 2025 campaign.
But Ronaldo - who will doubtless be busy as part of Portugal's World Cup campaign in any case - will probably not be appearing on the Netflix show.
Lineker previously revealed that Ronaldo had unfollowed him on Instagram - and suspected the cause was because he once described Lionel Messi as a better player than him.
Lineker on Ronaldo
Speaking during a guest appearance on The Louis Theroux Podcast, posted on Tuesday, Lineker opened up further on his 'frosty' relationship with the Portugal legend.
"I never thought I'd see a better player than Diego [Maradona]," Lineker said. "And he [Messi] might not necessarily be a better player, but he's lived better, therefore he's had greater longevity. And I think you have to take that into account.
"I just can't explain how good he is. He does four or five things in a game that I wouldn't have done in one game, in my entire career.
"He plays like he's watching himself from above. Take away all the goals, and the dribbles. His passing and his vision... I just don't know how it's humanly possible. It's bizarre.
"Cristiano is an incredible footballer. They are [matched together], but they're different.
"I always feel bad because people have a go at me saying, 'Oh, you don't like Ronaldo'. It's not that I don't like Ronaldo. I think he's an absolutely incredible footballer. But there's no argument about who is the better footballer. Anyone who understands the game will see that.
"But I have so much admiration for Cristiano. He's so driven, his career's been so successful, and he's scored so many goals.
"The fact that he's actually put in the same breath - and lots of people do make the comparison [to Messi] - is a huge compliment to him, of what he's achieved. Because he hasn't got the ability that Messi has. No-one has. But it's not an insult to Ronaldo to say that.
"Ronaldo fans [get annoyed with me]. And Ronaldo gets annoyed. He doesn't speak to me anymore.
"We used to get on alright. And then suddenly I was interviewed, or something, and I was asked, 'Who's the better player?' I said Messi.
"Then I got told, 'Oh, he doesn't like you anymore'."
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Gary Lineker, FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi
Ryan Smart