From the likes of Frank Lampard and Joe Cole at West Ham to Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes at Manchester United, former England centre-back Rio Ferdinand has shared the pitch with some of the greatest Premier League players ever during his decorated 20-year playing career.
Considered one of the best central defenders of all time, the London-born former footballer is also no stranger to facing exceptional opponents and overcoming them to win a plethora of both individual and club honours, including six Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2008.
A true legend of the sport himself, Ferdinand was once asked to name his three greatest players in football history – and made three unsurprising choices, including selecting one of his former Man United teammates.
The BBC pundit also gave three honourable mentions and picked one former superstar of the game whom he had previously named among his greatest Champions League forwards.
Rio Ferdinand Picking His 3 'Greatest Champions League Attackers of All Time' Related
Rio Ferdinand Picked His 3 'Greatest Champions League Attackers of All Time'
So many legends – like Ronaldo Nazario, Neymar, Thierry Henry, Raul and Karim Benzema – missed out.
Rio Ferdinand Praises Ronaldo and Messi
Among three of his greatest players in history
Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo
Ferdinand, speaking on his YouTube channel in 2024, named Ronaldo Nazario, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as his three greatest footballers ever, and name-dropped Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane and Diego Maradona as honourable mentions:
“My top three of all time in no particular order would be R9, the Brazillian, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“These historians and people that believe in all these fairytales can say, 'oh what about these players?'. Yeah, they were great players, don’t get me wrong, Ronaldinho, Zidane, Maradona.
“But Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, what they’ve done, it blows your mind.”
Ferdinand played alongside Ronaldo for six years at Man United from 2003 to 2009 and won multiple honours together, including three Premier League titles, two League Cups and one Champions League trophy.
They lifted nine major trophies in total and were key figures during the Red Devils’ dominant era under Sir Alex Ferguson, with Ferdinand anchoring the defence alongside Nemanja Vidic and Ronaldo leading the attack together with Wayne Rooney.
Ferdinand also once included both Ronaldo and Messi in the toughest opponents XI he ever faced, having met Ronaldo three times at club and international level and played Messi four times during the Argentinian forward’s time at Barcelona.
Ferdinand never won any of his three games against Ronaldo, while he emerged victorious over Messi only once – in the 2007/08 Champions League semi-final, which Man United won 1–0 on aggregate.
Ferdinand also had an opportunity to face Ronaldo Nazario three times with Man United and England, including in the 2002 World Cup, where Brazil triumphed over the Three Lions 2–1 in the quarter-final thanks to goals from Ronaldinho and Rivaldo.
For Ferdinand, it was his first taste of game time in a major tournament with England, having been left on the bench for the entire 1998 World Cup, while Ronaldo won his second World Cup with Brazil that year and claimed the Golden Shoe after scoring eight goals.
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Statistics courtesy ofTransfermarkt. Correct as of 17-06-25.