It's safe to say that Barack Obama and Donald Trump are two men who very rarely see eye-to-eye on all manner of subjects. Granted, most of their differences are of a political nature, but the pair can't even agree on the greatest football (soccer) player of all time.
However, both US Presidents have nailed their colours to the mast and named their pick for the football GOAT over the years. Interestingly, neither Obama nor Trump selected Manchester United and Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo Related
Cristiano Ronaldo Named His 'Greatest Player in Football History' - Not Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo once gave his take on who he believes is the best player in football history.
The Portuguese talisman is on his way to becoming the first player to ever reach the 1000-goal mark. Ronaldo is already the highest-scoring star the beautiful game has ever seen, and is known to be friendly with Trump after their White House meeting in 2025. But still, the 41-year-old missed out.
Former US President Barack Obama
Former US President Barack Obama
Back in 2022, Obama made it very clear who he thinks sits at the top of the mountain when it comes to the most gifted players ever. Following Argentina's 2022 World Cup success, there was a huge outpour of praise for Lionel Messi, and rightly so.
The Argentine had often been beaten with the stick of not living up to Pele and Diego Maradona in lifting the biggest international prize on the planet. However, Obama waxed lyrical on X (formerly Twitter) about the little magician after the triumph in Qatar. He posted:
"Congrats to Argentina and to the GOAT, Lionel Messi, for an amazing World Cup victory."
It's not the first time the former President of the United States has shown his admiration for Messi. Speaking in 2019, before Argentina lifted the World Cup, Obama labelled the Barcelona icon a 'genius' and explained how he needed a team to make his World Cup dream come true. He said (per The Sun):
"Even people that we consider geniuses work with other people in order to develop their style. In Argentina, even though Messi is wonderful, they have problems winning the World Cup.
“My advice to young people is that we have to recognise very few people achieve great things on their own."
Donald Trump Has Another Legend in Mind
Donald Trump
Donald Trump
In 2025, Trump was heavily involved in the newly formatted FIFA Club World Cup competition, which was held in America. Following Chelsea's success in that tournament, where Trump made the celebrations all about himself, the current leader of the United States was asked who he thinks is the greatest footballer ever.
He opted to go with Brazil's finest-ever player, Pele. It's certainly not an outrageous pick as the South American superstar was seen almost unanimously as the GOAT before Messi and Ronaldo came along. Trump recalled Pele plying his trade for the New York Cosmos, saying:
"And this place was packed – it was an earlier version of this stadium [the MetLife Stadium] and it was Pele.
“I don’t want to date myself but that was a long time ago and I was a young guy. I came to watch Pele and he was fantastic. So probably I’ll go old-fashioned – that’s like saying Babe Ruth – and say Pele was so great."