Cristiano Ronaldo was asked to name the five players he thought would dominate world football back in 2015 – and some of his choices have certainly had mixed fortunes since
The year is 2015 and Cristiano Ronaldo is still dazzling for Real Madrid in what might have been assumed to be the closing chapters of his time at the elite level. Yet the ex-Manchester United marvel is now 40 and still banging goals in for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia and for Portugal on the international stage.
While others from Ronaldo’s heyday have hung up their boots or turned to management, he is eyeing a remarkable sixth consecutive World Cup with Portugal in 2026 on North American soil. Even Ronaldo probably didn’t predict he’d be toeing the pitch against the future stars he named way back when.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is still as hungry as ever to prove he is the best of all time. In 2015, he was asked to list five younger players he feels are ready to take over football from himself and Lionel Messi.
Looking back, his choices were fascinating to say the least. Mirror Sport takes a closer look at the careers of the five football players he predicted would dominate the highest stage of football in his wake.
Martin Odegaard
As a slender yet supremely skilled Norwegian teen, Martin Odegaard had just touched down at Real Madrid. Barely 16 and fresh from Stromsgodset, his rawness was clear, but so were the signs of his serious skill during his stint with Los Blancos.
After the young star settled in Madrid, CR7 said: “He has a good future ahead. We must give him time to learn, to take his best decisions. But I see a lot of potential in the player, he has got a good left foot.”
Fast forward to the present day, Odegaard has found a home at Arsenal, where he has been pivotal in the Gunners’ last three Premier League title chases. He is one of the first names on the team sheet and has blossomed into one of the best midfielders in Europe under Mikel Arteta. All he is missing for his efforts is a major trophy with Arsenal, as he was not with the north Londoners when Arteta won the FA Cup in his first season in charge.
Eden Hazard
In 2015, Eden Hazard had recently finished his third season at Chelsea and just won the Premier League title. At the age of 24 years old, he had already established an impressive trophy collection and looked like a player who would be at the top of his game for another ten years.
The Belgian wizard remained at Chelsea until 2019, when he secured a huge move to Real Madrid in a purported £100million transfer. With Ronaldo leaving the club, Hazard was handed the Portuguese star’s iconic No. 7 shirt in what appeared to be a like-for-like replacement.
Unfortunately for Hazard, he was plagued by injuries and was never able to showcase the talent and abilities he had with Chelsea, at the Bernabeu. Despite having a hand in two La Liga titles and a Champions League triumph in the Spanish capital, Hazard was released in 2023, before announcing his retirement at the relatively young age of 32 years old.
He recently completed the renowned 225km Mallorca 312 amateur road cycling race, showing that he is still competitive away from football.
Paul Pogba
After bagging the Golden Boy award in 2013 and the Bravo Award a year later, Paul Pogba was shaping up to be one of the world’s top midfielders. The Frenchman was making waves at Juventus, where he clinched four Serie A titles and two Coppa Italias.
Despite being on the losing team in the 2015 Champions League final when Barcelona defeated Juventus 3-1, his performance didn’t go unnoticed. Shortly after Ronaldo predicted Pogba would dominate world football, Manchester United shattered the world transfer record to bring him back to Old Trafford in 2016.
His first season under Jose Mourinho saw him lift the League Cup and the Europa League, but things quickly went south for both Pogba and United. He returned to Juventus in 2022, only to be plagued by injuries that ruled him out of the 2022 World Cup.
In February 2023, Pogba received a four-year suspension after a drugs test revealed elevated testosterone levels in his system. However, a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) saw this reduced to 18 months. He is currently a free agent seeking his next career move.
Memphis Depay
When Memphis Depay joined United in 2014, many believed he was set to fill Ronaldo’s shoes. After a standout performance at the 2014 World Cup, Louis van Gaal, who had taken the reins at United after leading the Netherlands to the semi-finals in Brazil, signed Depay.
After a fluctuating debut season at United, Ronaldo identified the Dutchman as a future star while naming his top five players set to rule the game. Despite inheriting Ronaldo’s iconic No. 7 shirt, he never came close to emulating the Portuguese maestro’s brilliance.
Depay departed United for Lyon in 2017, then spent a year-and-a-half at Barcelona. Atletico Madrid snapped him up in the January transfer window, only to release him 18 months later.
After a short stint as a free agent, Depay now plies his trade with Brazilian heavyweights Corinthians, where he has netted 13 goals and provided 13 assists in 39 matches.
Neymar
Neymar was one of the most thrilling prospects ever to burst onto the scene from Brazil when he began making waves with his performances for Santos as a young player. Shortly after a standout performance for Brazil at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Barcelona shelled out £49m to bring him to the Nou Camp.
He went on to cement his status as one of the world’s best players, leading Paris Saint-Germain to shatter the previous transfer record by paying £200m to sign him from Barcelona. Despite being reunited with Messi and joining forces with Kylian Mbappe in the frontline, Neymar’s time in the French capital didn’t go as planned.
The South American star was transferred to Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal, where he was unfortunately plagued by injuries. Unable to recover in time, the Saudi club de-registered him to make space for Brazilian left-back Renan Lodi.
In 2024, Neymar only managed to play 42 minutes of football for the Middle Eastern team but still pocketed a staggering £85.98m. He then returned to Santos, the club where his football journey began, and has since regained both his fitness and form. In 2025, he has contributed three goals and three assists in just nine appearances for the Brazilian side.
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