Wayne Rooney Snubs Cristiano Ronaldo As He Answers 'Play, Bench, Drop' World Cup Question

Former England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney said he would bench Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo if he were managing the trio of Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane. Before the FIFA World Cup opener between Qatar and Ecuador, Rooney was asked to start one player, bench one player and drop one player and his choices were Argentine superstar Messi, Portugal maverick Ronaldo and England captain Harry Kane.

To this question, Rooney said that he would start with Messi, bench Harry Kane and drop Cristiano Ronaldo. These choices prompted the anchor to tell Rooney, that "someone is definitely got going to get a Christmas card."

"That's a tough one... I'd have to start Messi, I'd bench Kane and leave Ronaldo out. He's not playing for his club," Rooney said on Jio Cinema before the start of the World Cup game between Qatar and Ecuador.

A tough choice awaits @WayneRooney

Who does he START, BENCH & DROP? #FIFAWorldCupQatar2022 #WorldsGreatestShow #FIFAWorldCup #FIFAWConJioCinema #FIFAWConSports18 pic.twitter.com/YTQHDPbH2P

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) November 20, 2022

Rooney and Ronaldo have been having a war of words of sort. At first, the England star Rooney criticised Ronaldo for his behaviour at Manchester United.

Ronaldo then hit back, saying he is "better looking" than Rooney and he also said that the England star might be jealous of him as he is still playing at the highest level.

Ronaldo's Portugal will play their opening match of the FIFA World Cup on Thursday against Ghana.

England will begin their campaign later today while Argentina will play against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. 

Topics mentioned in this article

Portugal Argentina England Wayne Rooney Harry Kane Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi FIFA World Cup 2022 Football