Brazilian legend Pele has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Lionel Messi but insisted that he is still the greatest footballer of all time.

Pele,79, who holds Guinness World Record as top scorer of all time, doesn’t think that both stars quite live up to his greatness.

Telling YouTube channel Pilhado, Pale said: “Today the best player in the world is Cristiano Ronaldo.

“I think he’s the best, because he’s more consistent. You can’t forget about [Lionel] Messi, of course, but he’s not a striker.”

Ronaldo, 35, has scored an astonishing 725 goals in 1000 total games over the course of his glittering career.

But Messi, two years his junior, also boasts an amazing record, having bagged 697 goals in 856 games, despite – as Pele points out – not being a centre-forward.

The legendary former Santos star named a host of other contenders to his self-appointed title as the sport’s greatest ever.

He continued: “It is a question that is difficult to answer. We cannot forget about Zico, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo (Nazario).

“And in Europe, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff.

“Now, it’s not my fault, but I think Pele was better than them all.”