Welcome to #EuroRank, a weeklong look at the top 25 players we expect to see at the European Championship. Over 50 ESPN FC experts and writers from across the globe voted, and we're rolling out the results right up to opening day, when France plays Romania on June 10.
Why is Cristiano Ronaldo in the top 25?
With no Lionel Messi around in the Euros, Ronaldo is the unrivalled star name in France, even if Portugal are not one of the teams favoured to win the tournament. For his country, he is all-time top scorer with 56 goals in 125 matches and has been captain since 2008, and he led his country to the semis at the last Euros in 2012. If any European player guarantees goals, it is Ronaldo, a player of historic achievement who is not even a pure striker but has plundered them for club and country since becoming a star at Euro 2004, where he was a losing finalist.
What the experts say about Ronaldo:
"Cristiano was the most gifted player I managed. He surpassed all the other great ones I coached at United -- and I had many." Sir Alex Ferguson, 2013.
"Cristiano is proving that he is the best player in the world. He truly is a special player." -- Zinedine Zidane after Ronaldo's hat trick denied Wolfsburg in April 2016.
"I don't doubt that I will go down in footballing history. Whether people like it or not, the numbers speak for themselves." -- Ronaldo on himself, May 2016.
Career highlight:
Such has been his roll call of excellence that it is the sheer relentless of his goal scoring that stands out. The 2015-16 season saw him become the first player to score 30 Liga goals in six consecutive seasons. He also scored in the 2008 Champions League final for Manchester United and the 2014 final for Real Madrid, winning the trophy on both occasions.
Stat of the season:
His hat trick against Wolfsburg was the 37th of his Real Madrid career, and in October he became Real's record goal scorer, surpassing Raul's 323 goals in 741 appearance. Ronaldo needed only 311 games to get there.
What next for Ronaldo after Euro 2016?
No summer is complete without speculation about his future, and having conquered just about all worlds at Real Madrid, links with PSG and even a return to United are likely to bubble over once more.
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