2026 WORLD CUP: "THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD", THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH THE LEGENDARY ROMÁRIO, IMPRESSED BY THE FRENCH TEAM

As a prestigious guest on RMC, Romário, the great Brazilian striker of the 90s, gave his views on the 2026 World Cup. And more specifically on the French team and on Cristiano Ronaldo, whose desire to continue at the highest level he defends despite being 41 years old.

What an honor to be here in New York with Romário, the legend who won the World Cup in 1994, which we French unfortunately couldn't participate in. Romário, how are you experiencing this World Cup: the atmosphere, the matches, the United States?

I had the pleasure of playing in the 1994 World Cup here in the United States. That was 32 years ago, and I feel very happy and excited about everything that's happening, especially with the Brazilian national team, which is making great strides. And I'm impressed by the French team, which, in my opinion, is currently the best team in the world.

Could Vinícius be the Romário of 2026?

I don't know if we can say that Vini will be the Romário of 1994, but Vini is truly the key player for the Brazilian national team today. For me, so far, he's among the five best players in the World Cup, and he has everything it takes to be the main protagonist of this tournament.

Can Neymar be a true protagonist?

Neymar is returning from injury, and that's always complicated during a World Cup. Even if he's not yet at 100% physically, he can be a player capable of helping the Brazilian national team become champions.

What do you think of Carlo Ancelotti's work as head of the Brazilian national team?

Carlo Ancelotti is a coach who has managed major clubs and won every possible title as a club manager. As coach of the Brazilian national team, he has never been universally popular. Personally, I would have preferred a Brazilian, but he has the squad under control and has made some very interesting choices. One of the things that impressed me about him is that, from the moment he arrived, he was determined to learn the language. This demonstrates that he is truly driven by the idea that he came here to win the World Cup.

Romário, I'd like to know your opinion on football today. It's true that nowadays we talk a lot about Kylian Mbappé's braces and Haaland's goals. Given your perspective on modern and historical football, what do you think? Do you think that football in the past was much more difficult than modern football?

First of all, I'm a Mbappé fan. He's one of the best players in the world, and one of the top three players in the competition after the first few matches for the French team. Football today is very different from the football of my generation. I see that, in today's football, the physical aspect takes precedence over the technical one. That's why we don't see the great, wonderful, beautiful plays that we saw in previous generations. Back then, there were many more technically gifted players, and these players made football more beautiful and better played.

Would Romario, at his best in 1994, score more goals in this 2026 World Cup than in 1994?

I've always been a very fit player. Football has evolved. A lot has happened. Today, technology greatly influences how players play. I can tell you that I would be in this World Cup if we were to look at the 1994 Romário team.

Does he also need to help defensively, or is scoring goals enough?

In truth, Mbappé is a player whose primary function is to score goals. And there isn't a team that attacks with eight players. I don't know of any. It's ten against ten. If your team doesn't attack with eight players, or more than eight, and you have seven or eight players to defend, I don't see the necessity for him to absolutely have to defend. He can help, but what we should expect from Mbappé is that he scores goals. And he did that for France and for Real Madrid. Unfortunately, Real Madrid ended up not winning the title. But I see Mbappé as an attacking player, who should always be primarily concerned with scoring goals.

What do you think of Vinícius? There's the player and then there's the man, who's very controversial in Spain. Vinícius also provokes other players and referees, and there's also his fight against racism... What do you think of his behavior?

I believe that racism should have been eradicated years ago, especially in football. Vinícius carried that banner. There's even the Vinícius Júnior Law within FIFA today. Right now, in the World Cup, Vinícius Júnior seems completely committed and focused on playing football, helping Brazil, and scoring goals.

Romário, do you have any regrets in your career? You won the World Cup in 1994, you're a legend in Brazil and in the world of football. You didn't win the Ballon d'Or because, unfortunately, you weren't able to win it playing in Brazil. Do you have any regrets, and when were you at your best in football?

The truth is, you can always do better than you've done. Looking back now, I unfortunately missed two Olympic Games and two World Championships, including the 2002 one, which Brazil won as their fifth world title. But I don't regret anything I've done. I experienced some fantastic moments as a player, and I'll always cherish them.

Football has changed, as Mbappé says. Is this change hurting Brazil? We're a long way from the era of Rivaldo, Jairzinho, Pelé, and Romário. How do we explain that Brazil isn't as strong as it used to be?

Firstly, I don't like to make comparisons. There will be no more Pelé, no more Platini, no more Maradona, no more Romário. Those are different times. Football has changed a lot, and I believe that, from what we see today, even if football is different and even if there aren't big names like the ones I mentioned, football continues to be a very exciting sport.

Romário, are you more drawn to the football of Zidane or Platini?

They are two great players who are part of world football history, but I've always been a big fan of Zidane. In my opinion, Zidane was more complete than Platini.

And since we're on the France national team page, can you name the three best French players who have played for the French national team? Can you say which trio is the strongest in the history of French football?

A trio? Yes. Platini, Zidane, and now Mbappé. Benzema and Thierry Henry are players who have also made history, but for me, these three are the ones I loved the most.

Pelé scored over a thousand goals, Cristiano Ronaldo scored almost a thousand goals, and you, Romário, how many goals have you scored?

Me... It's not 1,002 official goals, because I've included friendly matches and a few goals I scored playing with Vasco's youth team. Regarding Cristiano Ronaldo's record, I strongly support him. He deserves it. For me, Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players of all time.

We've talked about the conversations in France surrounding Mbappé, and now I wanted to ask a question about the conversations in Portugal surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo. Do you understand that sometimes, despite all his qualities, all the legend he represents, and even though everyone loves him in Portugal as well as outside of Portugal, he can be criticized?

I think what Cristiano is doing in football, and what he showed again in the match against Uzbekistan, proves that it's definitely not the time for him to stop. I believe Cristiano Ronaldo must continue to pursue his goal of 1,000 goals. People should respect Cristiano for who he is, but they also need to understand that you can't compare the Cristiano of today with the Cristiano of 30, or 28. That's life: you get older, you become more experienced. And regarding Cristiano, I believe that he, better than any of us, will know exactly when he has to stop.

But it's not easy to know when to stop…

No, it's not easy. But in his case, I wouldn't stop either. I would continue until I reached a thousand goals.

But what if reaching 1,000 goals means that Portugal isn't the best version of Portugal we can see?

Listen carefully: I'm talking about Cristiano Ronaldo. Regarding the Portuguese national team, I believe the coach is the one who decides whether Cristiano Ronaldo plays. In Portugal's first match, they drew against Congo, and Cristiano Ronaldo didn't have a good performance. As he's one of the biggest names in world football today, one of the biggest, there are, of course, very high expectations. During the second match, Cristiano showed who Cristiano is. So now, people already think differently about him.