Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz regards Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo as the best in the world.

The former Real boss was asked who was the superior player between Ronaldo and Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

"I've trained Cristiano for several years, I am Portuguese and I am the coach of Portugal. I think Cristiano is the best, without being conditioned to say so, of course," he joked.

"Both are two great players and in a few years can be legends of football. Cristiano is one of the greatest players in the [national] team despite his youth.

"We have shown that we can play without him because unfortunately for the World Cup qualification and we still got there. The [Portugal] team has a very solid structure and the team that qualified can benefit greatly from the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo."