Wayne Rooney didn't hesitate when ranking himself amongst greatest ever strikers

Wayne Rooney did not hesitate when participating a game of 'Winner Stays On' featuring some of the very best players in footballing history.

Manchester United and England legend Rooney, who will serve as player-manager at Soccer Aid in a return to Old Trafford for the UNICEF charity game on Sunday, went viral online for his selections.

The 39-year-old was tasked with choosing between two world-class forwards and had a difficult start to the challenge when he was pitted against Luis Suarez.

Despite calling it a "tough one", Rooney ultimately brushed former Liverpool striker Suarez aside and said himself.

There was some pondering from United's record goalscorer on occasion given the quality of strikers involved but Rooney proceeded to opt for himself ahead of Harry Kane, Alessandro Del Piero, Neymar, Sergio Aguero, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland.

The lack of self awareness is crazy 😭pic.twitter.com/dP1dwPwghu

— fan (@NoodleHairCR7) June 13, 2025

Not short of confidence and belief in his own ability, Rooney scored 763 goals in his club career and 53 in 120 games for England - breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record until Kane came along and usurped him.

Making his debut at 16 with Everton, Rooney knew he was the best player at his boyhood club from the get-go and was completely unfazed on the international stage at Euro 2004 when he scored four goals in four games and was named in UEFA's Team of the Tournament.

A technically gifted player with an aggressive and street mentality, he had no problem leaving one on experienced defenders like Lilian Thuram and played on the edge for the majority of his career.

The five-time Premier League winner previously played a game of "stay silent" with talkSPORT where he was not allowed to speak until he heard a "player who was more talented in his youth than Wayne Rooney".

Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo were all mentioned but Rooney did not say a word until the name of eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi came up.

“Yeah, I’d say Messi,” Rooney said.

Rooney has gone on record to say Barcelona legend Messi is "the best ever" and "has that little bit more flair" than Ronaldo.