• Cristiano Ronaldo has been sent packing from the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
• The Portugal national team striker produced a truly awful display in his side's 2-1 loss to Uruguay on Saturday — statistically his worst performance at the tournament in Russia.
• Portugal has now been eliminated from the 2018 World Cup for good.
• Read all of Business Insider's World Cup coverage here.

The Portugal national soccer team was forced to pack its bags and leave the 2018 FIFA World Cup for good after Uruguay outmaneuvered it in a stunning 2-1 victory on Saturday.

The result was all the more surprising as it meant the tournament would no longer be able to watch Cristiano Ronaldo strut his stuff.

The Portugal striker was knocked out of the World Cup just hours after a similar fate was forced upon his long-running soccer rival Lionel Messi, who played a key role despite Argentina's 4-3 defeat to an in-form France.

While Messi provided two assists in his side's valiant, albeit unsuccessful attempt to topple Les Bleus, Ronaldo was responsible for a truly awful display.

In fact, three statistics show just how bad Ronaldo was during his side's loss to Uruguay.

According to statistical data from soccer website Squawka, out of all of Portugal's outfield players (everybody on the pitch minus the goalkeeper), Ronaldo recorded:

1. The fewest touches on the football — 49 (the fewer touches you have, the less likely it is that you can have a positive impact on the match).
2. The fewest attempted passes— 25 (the more passes you attempt, the likelier it is that you can provide a game-changing moment).
3. The fewest completed passes — 21 (this shows just how effectively the Uruguay defence was able to crowd Ronaldo out from the game).

Ronaldo posted a score of 6.66 out of 10 for his performance against Uruguay, according to data website Whoscored.com— and this is the lowest score he received in the four matches he played at the 2018 World Cup.

The 33-year-old began the tournament in thrilling fashion, contributing an extraordinary three goals in Portugal's 3-3 draw against Spain on June 15, and five days later scored the only goal in Portugal's 1-0 win over Morocco.

With four goals scored after just two World Cup matches, Ronaldo was one of only a few soccer players seen as capable of winning the 2018 Golden Boot — the prize given to the top goalscorer.

But then things changed dramatically.

Ronaldo performed poorly in Portugal's final World Cup group game against Iran on Monday. The team surrendered a 1-0 lead and drew 1-1 in a match where Ronaldo missed a penalty kick and narrowly escaped a red card.

But unfortunately for Ronaldo, things carried on getting worse as his last 2018 World Cup game — Saturday's Round of 16 loss to Uruguay — was the worst of the lot.

SEE ALSO: A disastrous display from Cristiano Ronaldo against Iran may have screwed him out of the World Cup top goalscorer award

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• Brazil defeated Mexico on Monday to earn a spot in the 2018 World Cup quarterfinals.
• The heroics from Brazil came in large part from Neymar, who had both a goal and an assist in the match.
• Neymar is leading his team further than Argentina and Portugal, and he accomplished a feat that has eluded both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo thus far in their international careers: scoring in the knockout stage of the World Cup. 

Brazil continued its run for redemption through the 2018 World Cup on Monday with a 2-0 win over Mexico to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

Led by a heroic effort from its offensive centerpiece, Neymar, Brazil recovered from a somewhat slippery start to the match with two second-half goals to send Mexico home on its first game of the knockout stage for the seventh straight tournament.

The action started when Neymar accomplished something Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are still looking to cross off of their bucket lists: scoring a goal in the World Cup's knockout stage.

In the 51st minute, Neymar pushed the ball up the left side of the field before making a sharp turn toward the center, just before getting to the box.

As he continued to draw his defenders' attention, Neymar dropped the ball off with a backheel to Willian, who darted toward the goal and centered the ball low, finding Neymar just completing his break to send home the first goal of the game.

Neymar's brilliance didn't stop there.

With Brazil looking to hold on to a 1-0 lead through the final whistle, Neymar would instead help his team to an insurance goal in the final minutes of the match.

After Mexico lost an errant pass in the midfield in the 89th minute, Neymar collected the ball and began running Brazil up the field with a numbers advantage. After a few touches, he centered the ball to beat the goalie and set up Roberto Firmino with a wide-open net.

Despite a great effort from Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa that was reminiscent of his otherworldly performance against Brazil in the 2014 World Cup, El Tri didn't have the players to compete with Brazil.

Neymar certainly didn't do it alone — and his supporting cast is far more helpful than that of Messi or Ronaldo — but his performance on Monday made clear that with some of the most marketable stars in soccer already out of the tournament, Neymar is indeed a player to watch as it continues.

More World Cup coverage:

• Cristiano Ronaldo: How the biggest sports star on the planet makes and spends his millions
• World Cup Power Ranking: Where every team stands heading into the knockout round
• The World Cup knockout bracket is set, and there is a 'side of death'
• The most mesmerizing photos from the World Cup so far

SEE ALSO: Russia pulled off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history when their keeper made an incredible save on the final kick

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A prominent research group in Switzerland has put together a list of "estimated transfer values" for the most expensive soccer players in Europe.

The ranking makes for interesting reading as Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time Champions League winner, barely makes the list (down from 11th last year) and Neymar, who smashed the world transfer fee record when he left FC Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in a $260 million deal last summer, fails to make top spot.

Football think tank CIES Football Observatory researched data from 5,000 paid transfers over a seven year period and used those figures to assess "fair" transfer values for active soccer players in the top five European leagues — the Premier League (England), La Liga (Spain), Bundesliga (Germany), Serie A (Italy), and Ligue 1 (France).

Factors like talent level, contract duration, and the age of each specific soccer player come into effect in this ranking, as does the status of the recruiting club.

CIES discovered, through speaking with market actors (club executives operating in elite soccer), that "the status of the recruiting club has a major influence in determining the transfer price."

Here are the 25 most valuable soccer players competing in Europe right now, ranked in ascending order:

SEE ALSO: RANKED: The 25 most valuable footballers in Europe in 2017

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25: Marc-André ter Stegen, FC Barcelona goalkeeper — €100.5 million ($117.7 million).

24: Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid striker — €103.4 million ($121.1 million).

23: Lorenzo Insigne, Napoli attacker — €104.2 million ($122 million).

• Harry Kane is the top goalscorer at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
• The England striker has scored one goal more than his closest rival and has one game in hand as the Three Lions take on Colombia in a crucial Round of 16 clash this evening.
• Should Kane score in that match then he will have scored more 2018 World Cup goals than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi combined.
• Kane is gunning for the Golden Boot award, the prize given to the top scorer at the World Cup, as well as the World Cup itself.
• Read all of Business Insider's World Cup coverage here.

Harry Kane has the coveted Golden Boot firmly in his crosshairs.

The England striker is already topping the World Cup scorers table having hit the bullseye five times at the 2018 tournament in Russia, and is gunning for the Golden Boot title along with Belgium's Romelu Lukaku (four), Uruguay's Edinson Cavani, and France's Kylian Mbappé (both three).

Kane has already outscored Cristiano Ronaldo (four), Diego Costa (three), and Lionel Messi (one) — but the three pre-tournament picks to be top scorer have been forced to pack their bags and start their summer vacations early as Portugal, Spain, and Argentina were all eliminated from the World Cup in the early stages.

Ronaldo and Messi may be gone, but their special soccer spirit lives on — in Kane.

Former England midfielder Jamie Redknapp recently told SkySports.com that Kane "is our Messi, our Ronaldo."

Redknapp said: "He is the player that everyone is talking about. He has gone to another level and elevated his game. Everyone thinks he is one of the best players in the world now — he is in the top five and things can only get better."

Out of all Kane's strike rivals, he is most similar to Ronaldo.

No, he does not weave majestic soccer magic quite like Messi or match the animalistic ferocity of Costa, but he sure is Ronaldo's equal when it comes to self-belief, self-development, and self-fulfillment.

Ronaldo and Kane were skinny, hard-working teens

When Ronaldo first came to England in 2003, he was a skinny, awkward-looking teenager who was prone to too many stepovers. By the time he left the league six years later, he had developed into a muscle-clad powerhouse who had refined his skill set.

Kane, like Ronaldo, was also once a skinny player. He was tall, gangly, and says he "didn't even look like a proper striker."

But the arrival of Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino in 2014 — and a chance YouTube viewing of a Tom Brady documentary— changed Kane's game forever. His Brady-like dedication to the training ground saw him entrusted with a first-team spot at Tottenham Hotspur — and he has gone on to score an incredible 140 goals in 213 games in the years since.

Kane, like Ronaldo, has worked hard to perfect his craft. After years of improvement, he is, by far, England's best striker — a consistently powerful, agile, and sharp player capable of rifling a shot into the goal at will.

But he has the opportunity to do something Ronaldo never did — score in the knockout rounds of a World Cup tournament.

Should he score against Colombia in England's crucial Round of 16 clash at the Otkritie Arena in Moscow on Tuesday evening, then he will have scored more 2018 World Cup goals than Ronaldo and Messi combined, and stand an even greater chance of leaving Russia with the Golden Boot.

But, knowing Kane, he will not want to stop there.

Kane will want to help England win the whole thing. Kane wants to be the captain who brings football home. Kane wants the World Cup title.

"You have to believe," Kane told the BBC when asked if England can do it, shortly after the team's 6-1 pummeling of Panama. "There is a long way to go, a lot of hard work but we just have to stick to our game plan."

Considering his appetite on the training ground, nobody will have the hunger to implement that game plan as well as Kane.

All he has to do is strike tonight — and judging by his past Ronaldo-like performances, very few will bet against him.

SEE ALSO: These 3 stats show how truly awful Cristiano Ronaldo was during Portugal's convincing 2-1 loss to Uruguay

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• A news story in O Jogo, a newspaper in Cristiano Ronaldo's native Portugal, said on Wednesday that Juventus had bid about €100 million ($117 million) for the forward.
• News of the possible move has sent shares of the Italian football club up.

Shares in Italy's most successful, best-known soccer team, Juventus, have jumped after rumors emerged that the Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo could make a summer move to Italy.

An article in O Jogo, a newspaper in Ronaldo's native Portugal, said on Wednesday that Juventus had bid about €100 million ($117 million) for the forward and that his Spanish club was considering the offer.

Ronaldo is thought to have a release clause of between €120 million and €130 million ($140 million-$152 million) in his Real contract, which if met would mean Juventus could immediately begin discussions with Ronaldo — if he is looking to join the Turin-based side. 

Ronaldo is Real Madrid's top all-time goal scorer, with 451 goals since moving there in 2009. He has won five Ballons d'Or — the most prestigious individual trophy in world soccer — and is arguably the greatest player in the history of the sport.

News of a possible move for Ronaldo has buoyed investors in Juventus. Along with any on-field success, his signing would most likely give the club's revenue a significant boost through merchandise sales and other commercial opportunities.

Shares popped more than 8% at the open on Thursday, as the news broke after markets closed Wednesday. As of 12:10 p.m. BST (1:10 p.m. CET; 7:10 a.m. ET), the club's stock — which trades on Milan's Borsa Italiana — was up 6.3% at €0.83 ($0.97).

SEE ALSO: This is everything Cristiano Ronaldo eats and drinks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

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After a wild start to the knockout round, just eight teams remain in the 2018 World Cup.

The "side of death" has lived up to its name so far, with some tense football eliminating the likes of Ronaldo and Messi. Still, there's plenty of great matches to be played before a champion emerges to lift the trophy.

Below we take stock of every team's chances as they stand just four wins away from World Cup glory.

Chances to win based on FiveThirtyEight's Soccer Power Index ratings.

Here's the knockout bracket heading into the quarterfinals of the tournament:

The first round of the knockout stage saw some heavy hitters fall — both Ronaldo and Messi will be watching the rest of the tournament from home after the losses of Portugal and Argentina, and Spain's disappointing showing against Russia makes the path to the final on the right side of the bracket look even easier than expected.

Regardless of matchups and paths, now just eight teams remain with a chance to lift the trophy.

You can keep up with the schedule and all of the results of the World Cup as they happen here.

8. Russia

Chance to win: 5%

Quarterfinals opponent: Croatia (July 7)

One thing to know: While it wasn't pretty, the host nation pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, eliminating Spain in a penalty shootout after playing a compact defense against an uninspired Spanish attack to a 1-1 draw. They might be at the bottom of these rankings, but anything can happen in a single match, and it might not be wise to bet against the home team.

7. Sweden

Chance to win: 6%

Quarterfinals opponent: England (July 7)

One thing to know: Sweden has not missed the presence of self-proclaimed soccer god Zlatan Ibrahimovic, having already secured the country's best World Cup finish since 1994.

• Superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were both knocked out of the World Cup in the first round of the knockout stage, possibly leaving the tournament for the final times in their careers.
• In their absence, 19-year-old French wunderkind Kylian Mbappe has shown he's ready to take on the role of superstar, announcing his arrival with a stunning two-goal performance against Argentina.
• Between Mbappe's speed, power, and room for growth, his play looks like a precursor to even more great things to come in his club and international careers — we could be witnessing the start of yet another generational talent.

On the very first day of the knockout round of the 2018 World Cup, the hopes of the two best football players on the planet were extinguished just hours apart. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have reigned supreme over the world's most popular sport for close to a decade now, and both fell short.

But as their World Cup stories came to a close, that of France's Kylian Mbappe came into focus and captured the attention of any fan wondering which player would be the next worldwide soccer phenomenon.

At just 19 years old, Mbappe is far from a finished product, but on the pitch, he shows wisdom beyond his years and an ability that can overwhelm opponents far his senior. With dizzying speed, a blistering shot, and an otherworldly knack for finding himself in the right place at the right time when the ball comes his way, Mbappe is ready to take over the World Cup.

Through the group stage of the World Cup, France was a bit of a disappointment. Les Bleus got the results they needed to advance, but were far from compelling and looked like a team trying to find itself. With an array of talent comparable to any in the field, what France lacked was a centerpiece — a player operating as a spiritual guide to the team's style and progress through the tournament.

It's the role Neymar plays for Brazil — a figurehead of sorts who can see which way the winds are turning and adjust his team's sails as necessary.

Playing against Messi and Argentina, Mbappe rose to the occasion in one of the most stunning teenage performances the World Cup has ever seen.

Mbappe's takeover began early in the match, intercepting a ball in the defensive third and rushing it up the field into Argentina's box with breakneck speed before being taken down by a defender. The play drew a penalty kick, which Antoine Griezmann finished from the spot to give France an early 1-0 lead.

From there, Mbappe would assert his dominance more directly.

In the second half with the score knotted 2-2, Mbappe claimed a loose ball amidst the chaos of the box, controlled it, played it to himself, and sent home the go-ahead goal in the 64th minute.

Then, just three minutes later, Mbappe would make a run into space alongside Olivier Giroud, striking a one-timer without breaking stride to send home his second goal of the match and give France a 4-2 lead.

What's so thrilling about Mbappe's dominant performance here is that it would be astounding coming from a 23-year-old or even a 27-year-old. Instead, at just 19, Mbappe found his role in a team in need of direction and now looks like he could be the future of French soccer for decades to come.

Mbappe was already known for his youthful prowess, playing club ball with Monaco and later making headlines as the most expensive teenager ever with his transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. Now, with his performance thus far at the World Cup, Mbappe has further announced himself as a coming force in the football world — a player with already dominant skills and still plenty of room to improve.

Coming into this World Cup, many American fans were excited to follow U.S. wunderkind Christian Pulisic as he made his tournament debut. When the USMNT fell short, attention went to those players that have captured the minds and imaginations of soccer fans for close to a decade — Ronaldo and Messi.

Now, it's Mbappe's turn, and with the world watching, it looks as though he's ready to make his statement.

More World Cup coverage:

• World Cup Power Ranking: Where every team stands heading into the quarterfinals
• The 23 best World Cup players so far — 2 forwards share top spot
• The most mesmerizing photos from the World Cup so far
• 'MIRACLE IN MOSCOW' — Here's how British newspapers celebrated England's 'historic' win over Colombia

SEE ALSO: Russia pulled off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history when their keeper made an incredible save on the final kick

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• Facebook is in talks with Cristiano Ronaldo over a reality show, according to Variety.
• The proposed 13-part series will follow the soccer superstar off the field and could earn him $10 million.
• American footballer Tom Brady will be involved in the project through his company Religion of Sports.

It's always the Cristiano Ronaldo show when the Real Madrid star takes to the field. But now the soccer superstar is reportedly in talks to be the main man in a reality show off the pitch.

According to Variety, Ronaldo is in discussion with Facebook over starring in a 13-part documentary series about his life, which could earn the Portuguese athlete $10 million (£7.6 million).

The show would be a huge coup for Facebook Watch, and the talent behind the camera isn't bad either. Variety said the show will be made by Religion of Sports, a sports media firm cofounded by Tom Brady, alongside Matador Content and Dirty Robber. Powerful talent agent CAA is "packaging" the project.

Sources told Variety that Ronaldo's show could follow a similar format to Brady's Facebook Watch series "Tom vs Time," which follows the New England Patriots star both on and off the field. The show debuted in January and runs to six episodes, with its most-watched episode racking up 12 million views.

Facebook declined to comment. CAA and Religion of Sports also declined to comment when contacted by Variety.

Ronaldo is the most popular athlete on Facebook, with more than 120 million followers on his official page. He has just returned from the World Cup, where he starred for Portugal, and there is speculation that he could leave Real Madrid for Italian side Juventus.

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• Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly on the cusp of a $116 million transfer from Real Madrid CF to Juventus FC, according to multiple reports.
• Ronaldo recently said he liked Juventus since he was a boy, his exit from Real was discussed by key figures at a meeting on Wednesday, and the player is allegedly in the market for a huge villa in Turin — the city where Juventus plays its home matches.
• A former Juventus executive even claims the deal is already done — and one journalist has dubbed it "the deal of the century."
• Should Ronaldo leave Real Madrid, he will do so as the club's all-time leading goalscorer and a forward who played a key role in each and every one of Real's four Champions League victories in the last nine years.

Cristiano Ronaldo is on the cusp of finalising an £88 million ($116 million) transfer from Real Madrid CF to Juventus FC, according to multiple reports.

The 33-year-old enjoyed sumptuous form last season as he finished top Champions League scorer with 15 goals from 13 appearances. He then impressed while playing for Portugal in the 2018 World Cup, and is ranked as one of the best players in the tournament.

But now Portugal has been dumped out of the World Cup, Ronaldo is free to focus on his future — and there are five clear factors that suggest his future is in Italy's Serie A with Juve, rather than Spain's Primera División with Real.

1. Ronaldo recently said Juventus is a club he liked since he was a young boy.
2. His biographer says "in his head, Ronaldo is a Juventus player."
3. Ronaldo's Real Madrid exit was apparently agreed at a meeting on Wednesday.
4. He is reportedly looking for a property in Turin, where Juventus plays its home games.
5. A former Juventus executive says the deal is done.

Ronaldo declared his fondness for Juventus, the biggest club in Italy, earlier this year — and it may have gone slightly unnoticed at the time.

After all, Ronaldo had just scored one of the goals of the year as he executed an overhead kick in a Champions League knockout match in April. The shot ended up ripping into the net and sending the crowd wild — even the Juventus supporters begrudgingly applauded as they realised they had witnessed something special.

It was an action that Ronaldo recognised and was thankful for when speaking to Real Madrid media after the game, a game Real had won 3-0. He reportedly said, as per MARCA: "For people to applaud me at a stadium like that of Juventus, where they've had great players and where they have great players, is a top moment."

Ronaldo then declared his love for the club. "I'm very happy and excited because this has always been a club that I've liked since I was a little boy."

In his head, Ronaldo is now a Juventus player, according to his biographer Guillem Balague, a noted Spanish soccer expert who reports for Sky Sports.

"In his head, Cristiano is a Juventus player,"Balague tweeted this week. 

Though the Italian club is yet to make a formal bid, the player's superstar agent Jorge Mendes is assured that one will be made. Balague added: "[Ronaldo] has never been this close to leaving."

Balague may claim Real has not yet received an offer for Ronaldo, but the club has reportedly already held meetings to discuss the player's exit strategy as it seemingly expects a $116 million bid to be made.

MARCA reported on Thursday that three key figures — Real president Florentino Perez, his "right-hand man" Jose Angel Sanchez, and Ronaldo's agent Mendes — all met on Wednesday evening to discuss "the terms of a potential Santiago Bernabeu exit" for Ronaldo.

Sanchez reportedly will not accept anything less than $116 million from Juventus — a fee Mendes is confident the Serie A champion can afford.

With the player seemingly set to sign a four-year deal at Juve, it stands to logic that he will be in the market to buy a new property, and Spanish publication AS claims he is already shopping for a massive home in Turin— the city Juventus plays its home matches at.

If that were not enough, a former Juventus executive says the deal is already done. "In my opinion, he has already signed and he had a medical [evaluation] with Juventus,"former general director Luciano Moggi said, as reported by MARCA.

MARCA says Moggi then said he had held discussions with "important people" who are privy to the situation.

Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 and has forged an incredible legacy at the club. Should he leave Real, he will do so as the club's all-time leading goalscorer (450 goals from 438 games in all competitions), and as one of the key players in a wildly successful Champions League run that included four championship victories in the last nine years.

Considering his record, it is understandable why the deal is already being dubbed "the signing of the century for Italian football."

SEE ALSO: Cristiano Ronaldo's rumored move to Italy's biggest soccer club sends shares surging

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UP NEXT: Cristiano Ronaldo has added fuel to the fire over Real Madrid exit rumours — but the club would not be 'completely sad' if he goes

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• Cristiano Ronaldo is leaving Real Madrid after nine seasons to join Italian club Juventus.
• Madrid says it has reached an agreement with Juventus after a request by Ronaldo.

Join the conversation about this story »

• Juventus shares popped after it was reported that the side is close to signing Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for €100 million ($117 million).
• Ronaldo's signing was confirmed and shares rose even further, rising almost 40% in trading in Germany.
• Follow Juventus' stock price in real time here.

Shares of Italy's most successful, best-known soccer team, Juventus, surged on Tuesday after it was confirmed that the side has signed Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for around 100 million euros ($117 million).

Spanish news outlet La Sexta reported earlier that a deal for Ronaldo is now almost done, and Sky News said that Juventus' president, Andrea Agnelli, has flown to the Greek island of Kalamata — where Ronaldo is on holiday — to hold talks with the star. Ronaldo's move was then confirmed by Juventus later in the afternoon.

Ronaldo was Real Madrid's top all-time goal scorer, with 451 goals since moving there in 2009. He has won five Ballons d'Or — the most prestigious individual trophy in world soccer — and is arguably the greatest player in the history of the sport.

News of the developing transfer, which was first rumored last week, sent Juventus shares skyward. Once Ronaldo's transfer was confirmed, Juventus' Stuttgart traded shares rose by almost 40%, hitting €1.12, as the chart below shows:

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• Cristiano Ronaldo is old by soccer player standards, but Real Madrid is selling him for more than the club paid for him back when he was in his prime.
• This is, in part, because transfer fees in soccer have exploded in recent years. 
• It is also because of Ronaldo's dedication and his willingness to let his game evolve. 

Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most dominant soccer players of the past decade and the star of Real Madrid for the past nine years, is leaving the Spanish club for Juventus in Italy, the club announced on Tuesday. 

According to Fabrizio Romano of The Guardian, the transfer fee was approximately £88 million (US$117 million), which would be more than Real Madrid paid for Ronaldo in 2009. 

The hefty fee is, in large part, due to the explosion in transfer fees in world soccer.

When Real Madrid bought Ronaldo from Manchester United for £80 million in 2009, they set what was then a world-record transfer fee.  But transfer fees have skyrocketed since then. According to Goal.com, the four most expensive transfer fees in soccer history have all occurred within the past two years, with Brazilian star Neymar going to Paris Saint-German in 2017 for a whopping£200 million.

The ever-increasing flow of television money into the game, plus the rise of super-clubs like PSG that are backed by ownership groups awash in oil revenue, has made soccer players more expensive than ever. 

However, this also a testament to Ronaldo as a player. At 33-years-old, he should be well past his prime as a soccer player. Indeed, another former Manchester United star, Wayne Rooney, was recently shipped off to a glorified retirement in Major League Soccer, and he is younger than Ronaldo. 

But Ronaldo has cannily reinvented himself as a player, and as his pace has declined, he has gone from a winger known for tearing up and down the flanks with the ball at his feet, to an out-and-out striker and penalty box poacher. Of course, he also takes fantastic care of his body as well.

Now, with Ronaldo set for Italy, Real Madrid will be looking for his replacement. And at this point it would not be at all surprising if they set yet another world record transfer fee, on Neymar again or on Chelsea's Eden Hazard, to do so.

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• A Russian man has taken drastic action after his wife "mocked Messi".
• The couple first met in a bar while watching the 2002 World Cup and are huge football fans.
• Despite Argentina beating Nigeria during the World Cup 2018, his wife insisted Ronaldo was the better than Messi.
• The next morning he filed for divorce at the courts of the city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals.

Look anywhere on the Internet where the beautiful game of football is being discussed and more often than not, you will somehow stumble upon one of the most debated subjects that has managed to divide the footballing community for more than a decade now.

Who is the greatest of all time — Messi or Ronaldo?

Mere mention of one of the footballing greats on a simple comment thread has been known to send fans of the other into a frenzy, with paragraphs and statistics aplenty as to why Messi or Ronaldo deserve the accolade of the GOAT.

Unfortunately for the both of them, neither managed to cement his status when both their teams got knocked out of the 2018 World Cup's Round of 16.

Things got slightly out of hand though when news emerged that a Russian man was filing for divorce after debating the subject with his wife, the Mirror reported.

The couple, named only as Arsen and Lyudmila, first met in a bar while watching the 2002 World Cup and are huge football fans.

Their last event as a couple was to be at the World Cup in Russia 16 years later, as Arsen celebrated Argentina's victory over Nigeria.

According to Arsen, since the beginning of the World Cup, Lyudmila had "mocked Messi and said he couldn't even score a penalty against Iceland".

The straw that broke the camel's back was when Lyudmila continued to insist that Ronaldo was a superior player to Messi, even as the Argentine inspired his team to a crucial victory.

"I couldn't contain myself and told her what I thought about the vain Ronaldo, the Portuguese national team and all the clubs she likes," Arsen said.

He then took his "belongings and left her forever".

The next morning he filed for divorce at the courts of the city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals.

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Cristiano Ronaldo is the most famous athlete on the planet, and he is now a member of Italian powerhouse Juventus after nine seasons with Real Madrid.

With a Juve salary in the tens of millions and some of the biggest endorsement deals in football, he was the third highest-paid athlete in the world in 2018, behind only Floyd Mayweather and fellow superstar Lionel Messi. As a result, he also has a ludicrous amount of cash to burn.

Find out how he earns his money and what he spends all that cash on below.

Tony Manfred and Melissa Stranger also contributed to this post.

Ronaldo earned $108 million (£81.5 million) in the last 12 months, according to Forbes, making him one of the highest-paid sports stars in the world.

Source: Forbes

Almost half of that income ($47 million, £35.5 million) was from endorsement deals with companies like Tag Heuer, Herbalife, and Nike.

Ronaldo's new deal with Nike will reportedly pay him over £19 million per year for the rest of his life. At that rate, the deal will reach £800 million ($1 billion) in total value when Ronaldo is 73 years old.

Source: Forbes

• You might have noticed a lot of players spitting out their water at the World Cup.
• They could be rinsing out their dry mouths, but scientists think they might be doing something called "carb rinsing."
• This is where you swirl a carbohydrate solution around your mouth to trick your body into thinking energy is coming.
• This way you may give your brain a boost to stay alert.
• It isn't common practise yet, but sports scientists believe the technique is on the rise.

Football fans were heartbroken all over England on Wednesday night. The team was beaten by Croatia in the World Cup semifinals in Russia, leading everyone across the nation to accept the fact it's not coming home— not until 2022, anyway.

Looking back on the memories of the World Cup that wasn't to be, you might remember seeing a lot of spitting. Not just normal spitting, but players rinsing their mouths out with water and producing a stream of water, rather than drinking it.

England's captain Harry Kane seemed to do this a lot, squirting water from his bottle into his mouth only for it to come back out again — as did midfielder Dele Alli, and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.

According to the New York Times, this could be a fitness technique called "carb rinsing." Drinking a lot of water can lead to bloating, so it makes sense for players to wash their mouths out without swallowing if they are feeling dry. But carb rinsing is where you wash your mouth out deliberately with a carbohydrate solution, which essentially tricks your body into performing better.

It works by receptors in the mouth sensing the carbs and sending signals to the pleasure and reward centers of the brain, saying there is more energy on the way. This makes the muscles work harder, without the negative effects of carbohydrate drinks like stomach heaviness and cramps.

The England team didn't discuss its nutritional tactics at the World Cup, the NY Times says, but a source familiar with the team's regimen said carb rinsing was "standard practice."

A study published in 2017 in the European Journal of Sport Science found that carb rinsing boosted performance in a range of activities. The research team from Coventry University tested 12 healthy men in their 20s, and found after carb rinsing they could jump higher, do more bench presses and squats, sprint faster, and were more alert.

Another study from 2015, published in International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, found that 12 competitive male athletes experienced less fatigue after carb rinsing.

But carb rinsing hasn't always been found to be successful. In one study from 2017, published in the Journal of Sports Sciences, 15 female runners raced for 60 minutes, once with carb rinsing and once without. The carb solution apparently had no impact on their times. This may be because carb rinsing has more of an impact on quick, immediate activities such as sprinting, rather than endurance events like long distance running.

David Ferguson, an assistant professor of exercise physiology at Michigan State, told the NY Times that rinsing seems to help players feel less fatigued and enhances their attention — something that is very important after more than 90 minutes of play.

Rather than making them run faster or kick harder, "it's simply going to maximize their focus so that they are not succumbing to fatigue, so they can put themselves in the right position to make the right play," Ferguson said.

When England and Colombia's match went to penalties, for example, players may have benefitted from a brain boost with carb rinsing.

"You're going to do every trick in the book to try to maximize cognitive focus after two hours of a pretty intense match," Trent Stellingwerff, a researcher of carb rinsing, told the NY Times. "Is there science behind it in a soccer model? Not that I'm aware of yet. Is it going to hurt? Absolutely not. If the athletes believe in it and it's part of their mojo, will that work? You betcha it will."

It's not a widespread technique yet, according to Asker Jeukendrup, an exercise physiologist and sports nutritionist at the University of Birmingham, but it definitely seems to be on the rise.

"I hope it's all deliberate," he said. "It's good to see science making its way into real sport."

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• Fiat workers set to strike over Italian soccer club Juventus' purchase of star forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
• Around 30% of Fiat is owned by the Agnelli family, which also owns Juventus.
• "The owners should invest in car models that guarantee the future of thousands of people rather than enriching only one," a statement from the striking USB union said.

Angry workers at Italian automaker Fiat are set to go on strike to protest soccer club Juventus' signing of star forward Cristiano Ronaldo for around €112 million ($130 million).

Juventus' owners, the Agnelli family, also controls about 30% of Fiat Chrysler through a holding company. Workers are angry because they believe the huge sum spent on Ronaldo would have been better spent investing in Fiat.

The USB Union, which is leading the strike, said that the Agnellis would have been better served helping the lives of workers, "rather than enriching only one."

"It is unacceptable that while the (owners) ask workers of FCA... for huge economic sacrifices for years, the same decide to spend hundreds of millions of euros for the purchase of a player," a statement from the union said.

"The owners should invest in car models that guarantee the future of thousands of people rather than enriching only one," it added.

The strike will take place at the Melfi plant, a city around 100 miles from Naples. The plant manufactures two Fiat models, the Punto and the 500X, according to the BBC.

The strike will begin at 10 p.m. on Sunday and continue until 6 p.m. the following Tuesday.

Ronaldo moved from Real Madrid to Juventus this week. The deal could be worth €300 million ($349 million) when wages are included.

Ronaldo was Real Madrid's top all-time goal scorer, with 451 goals since moving there in 2009. He has won five Ballons d'Or — the most prestigious individual trophy in world soccer — and is arguably the greatest player in the history of the sport.

His move caused Juventus' stock price to rise by almost 40% when the news broke. Ronaldo is a huge asset both on the field and off it. Merchandise sales for shirts featuring his name are likely to be worth millions.

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• Cristiano Ronaldo's shocking decision to leave Real Madrid for Juventus is set to send shockwaves across the soccer world.
• Real Madrid is now left with a huge offensive hole to fill and plenty of money to fill it, and will in all likelihood soon find yet another prominent forward to step into Ronaldo's role.
• Whichever superstar does end up taking over at Real will leave a similar hole with their former club, continuing a domino effect that could shift some of the best players in the world across Europe.

On Tuesday the news became official — after one of the most dominant decades of club soccer in the history of the sport, Cristiano Ronaldo was leaving Real Madrid to join Juventus, with the Italian club paying a transfer fee reported at €100 million (US$117 million) to bring in the Portuguese superstar.

But the effects of Ronaldo's transfer will likely be felt far beyond Juventus and Real Madrid, as his move could trigger a domino effect that forces the movement of tons of stars in yet another busy summer.

The move was shocking but also makes sense for both clubs involved. Real Madrid got nine of the best years any player has ever produced, winning La Liga and Champions League titles while scoring at an astounding rate, and even made a profit on the transaction of a 33-year-old star thanks to the high transfer fee.

Meanwhile, Juventus is getting the biggest superstar on the planet, and the proven goal-scorer that the club needs should it hope to take home a Champions League title of its own — Ronaldo's 26 goals in La Liga last season were more than any Juventus player has scored in 20 years.

Real is now left with a Ronaldo-sized hole to fill, and an extra €100 million (in addition to the already impressive coffers of the club) to fill it. President Florentino Perez likes to sign superstars, or "Galacticos," to play for his club, and with Ronaldo responsible for an outsized portion of Los Blancos' offensive production over the past decade, the club will spare no expense to find its next star forward.

Potential Ronaldo replacements are some of the biggest names in soccer. Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are both gifted finishers that fit the bill, and with Paris Saint-Germain being investigated over financial fair play, it's not impossible to imagine one of them moving to Real Madrid in yet another record-setting transfer deal.

Should PSG be able to hold on to both of its prized players, gifted young strikers in England such as Harry Kane and Mo Salah jump to mind as potential Ronaldo replacements. While both players seem pretty attached to their current homes, there's not a ton of other places to look when in search of a striker who can net 30 goals a season. Chelsea's Eden Hazard has also been rumored as a potential Galactico signing, meaning that whichever striker Real brings in could have the benefit of Hazard playing just behind them.

Regardless of which superstar ends up stepping into the shoes of Ronaldo, one thing is certain — their departure to Real Madrid will leave their previous club in need of a scorer, and with a new influx of cash to find him.

Say Real decides to bring in Kane, sending another large transfer fee to Tottenham to put the deal through. The Spurs are not merely going to sit back and count their cash after sending over their star player. Instead, they'll be a new leading destination for other talented strikers looking to jump a level. The cycle is self-perpetuating through levels of soccer until one team at the end of the trail is left without another signing but with a check in their hands.

Transfer season is rarely a calm one, but between Ronaldo's departure and Real Madrid's deep pockets and commitment to bringing in superstars, the summer of 2018 has the potential to see some of the top talents in soccer moving across Europe for more record-setting sums. Ronaldo was merely the first domino of many to fall.

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• Kylian Mbappé has previously been touted as the future, but after a stunning World Cup tournament the future is now — Mbappé is here.
• Three key statistics indicate the Paris Saint-Germain and France forward is already out-performing Cristiano Ronaldo, the world's best player, in certain areas.
• Mbappé is faster, is a more daring dribbler, and is more creative with the football than Ronaldo has been over the last 12 months.
• There is one clear area where Ronaldo remains king — but the two soccer standouts will likely go head-to-head in the coming season to determine who is best.
• Read all of Business Insider's soccer coverage for the 2018-2019 season here.

Kylian Mbappé is no longer the next big thing in world soccer.

Why? Because Mbappé is here, he's arrived, and he's already one of the biggest names in sport.

Mbappé is a two-time Ligue 1 champion, a 2018 FIFA World Cup winner, and already one of the best and most exciting athletes in soccer — and he's still only 19 years old.

What may be terrifying for the defenders attempting to mark him is that Mbappé can only get better and better. He will play more games, score more goals, and get faster, fitter, and stronger with every match that he plays. He is, after all, still six years away from hitting his peak strength, as science says this will only arrive when he turns 25.

But Mbappé is already brilliant. He has dart-like dribbling and electric pace, he has predatory goalscoring instincts from all angles, and, as his goal in the World Cup final showed, he is a big-game player and will rise to the biggest of occasions.

And this all comes at a time when soccer's top player is at the other end of his career. Cristiano Ronaldo, 33, may have just competed in his last ever World Cup, and he is far-removed from his peak years as an athlete.

Ronaldo began with a bang, but finished with a whimper

Ronaldo began the 2018 World Cup in thrilling fashion, banging in three goals against Spain in a scintillating 3-3 draw on June 15. But after that, Ronaldo's effectiveness waned with every game.

Portugal limped over the finish line of the Morocco game with a 1-0 win on June 20, failed to beat Iran in a 1-1 draw on June 25, and got kicked out of the competition because of a 2-1 loss to Uruguay in the Round of 16 on June 30. That final game was Ronaldo's worst at the World Cup, as he produced a truly awful display.

The way Ronaldo began with a bang but finished with a whimper was a stark contrast to how Mbappé's powers only enhanced with every matchday.

France did enough to claim top spot of its group without really excelling, and eventually broke into a higher gear in the knockout rounds when it stunned Argentina with a smash-and-grab 4-3 win, a game where Mbappé scored a double. It then beat Croatia 4-2 in a World Cup final where the teenager was once again one of the best players on a pitch filled with men many years older than he was.

Mbappé, a champion with France, was crowned the best young player at the competition and was also named in many team of the tournament lists including ESPN, Goal.com, and Yahoo Sports. Ronaldo, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen.

But the World Cup is only a seven-game competition and, as Ronaldo knows only too well, one bad game can result in a humbling exit. A more fair way to compare Mbappé to Ronaldo is to look at club-level statistics from the last league season. Yet when it comes to three key stats the winner is clear — and it is once again Mbappé.

In fact, a hat-trick of key statistics suggest Mbappé could continue to eclipse Ronaldo in the coming league season.

1. Mbappé is faster than Ronaldo.

Earlier this week, Mbappé was described by France teammate Raphaël Varane as "a young alien." Perhaps not in the literal sense, but his sprint speeds alone stand him out as a freak human, if not someone from another planet.

In Paris Saint-Germain's 3-1 win over Lille in Ligue 1 in December 2017, Mbappé sprinted at a top speed of 44.7 km/hr before he struck the team's third and final goal. His average speed was 36 km/hr — which is even more impressive when you realise eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt averaged 37.5 km/hr when he set the world 100m record in 2009.

A study published by Mexican soccer club CF Pachuca claimed Ronaldo could sustain a sprint speed of 33.6 kmh, last year. Fast, yes. Very fast, sure. But not Mbappé fast.

2. Mbappé is a more daring dribbler than Ronaldo.

Mbappé, so confident with the ball at his feet, can often be found dribbling at defenders at speed. In the 2017-2018 league season for Paris Saint-Germain he attempted 2.9 dribbles per game — a figure far higher than Ronaldo, who posted a more conservative 1.1 dribbles per game representing Real Madrid.

3. Mbappé is more creative than Ronaldo.

Mbappé is also more creative with the ball, according to statistics. In the same season, the wunderkind returned an 83.1% pass completion rate, created almost two goalscoring opportunities per appearance, and provided eight assists from 24 starts.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, returned an 81.6% pass completion rate, created only one goalscoring opportunity per appearance (almost half as productive as Mbappé), and provided five assists from 27 starts.

Still, Ronaldo remains the goalscoring king

Ultimately, what separated Ronaldo from Mbappé was his overall effectiveness as a goalscorer.

Ronaldo was responsible for scoring or creating a goal once for every 73 minutes he played for Real Madrid in La Liga, whereas Mbappé was only able to score or create a goal once for every 99 minutes he played for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1.

Mbappé, despite his superior speed, has not overtaken Ronaldo as the planet's best soccer player just yet. But there will be plenty of opportunities to play catch-up in the coming season, when PSG and Juventus, Ronaldo's new club, look to land club soccer's greatest prize — the UEFA Champions League.

It is a tournament Ronaldo, as a five-time winner, has almost made his own, but in Mbappé he has a rival who not only shares the same desire to win the competition, but has the ability to perform at the highest level in the biggest games on the grandest of stages.

Yes, he was once the future. But if Mbappé can find an even higher gear this season, there will be no question that he alone is soccer's present, leaving Ronaldo as soccer's past.

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• Cristiano Ronaldo fever is gripping Juventus FC.
• One of the planet's most successful soccer players has only recently joined the Italian giant, but the club has already sold $60 million in shirts, seen its stock price increase almost 40%, and gained over 1 million new followers on its social-media channels, according to several reports.
• Ronaldo said he wanted to take Juventus to a "higher level," the BBC reported.
• But it looks as if he's already done that — and he hasn't even kicked a ball yet. 

Cristiano Ronaldo fever is gripping Juventus FC.

Juventus, the biggest soccer club in Italy, sold 520,000 Ronaldo jerseys in just 24 hours, according to Yahoo Italy, The Guardian, and beIN Sports. As official Ronaldo jerseys cost about $120, that would be $62.4 million in total revenue — almost half his transfer fee.

Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juventus last week in a $129.3 million (£99.2 million) deal, but the Italian club will not recuperate the bulk of the transfer fee from shirt sales alone, as typically clubs receive only 10-15% of the revenue generated by the kit manufacturer (in this case, Adidas). It is therefore likely that Juventus will see about $6 million to $9 million of this money.

Regardless, Juventus is still feeling the effects of acquiring one of the planet's most famous athletes.

When news of Ronaldo's intended move broke, Juventus shares popped almost 40%. The club also witnessed a massive social-media boost as its channels gained more than 1.5 million new followers in a single day.

Speaking of his transfer, Ronaldo said he hoped to "take Juventus to an even higher level,"according to the BBC. Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that he also said, "I want to leave my mark on the history of Juventus."

It looks as if he may have already done those things without even kicking a ball.

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• Cristiano Ronaldo is a 33-year-old forward, but results from his Juventus FC medical examination show he is as fit as a 20-year-old, according to Spanish publication AS.
• The world soccer superstar has a lower body fat percentage than the average athlete in his sport, has a higher muscle mass, and can sprint faster.
• Ronaldo recently cost Juventus $130 million when he left Real Madrid for the Turin club — but it looks like he's already proving to be a bit of a bargain.
• Read all of Business Insider's soccer coverage for the 2018-2019 season here.

Cristiano Ronaldo has completed his medical examination at new club Juventus FC and the results are in — he is performing like a 20-year-old.

The Cristiano Ronaldo effect is already being felt at Juventus. The 33-year-old forward was bought for a $130 million fee earlier this month and whipped fans into a shirt-buying frenzy. He has sent the club's stock price soaring and he prompted millions of new people to follow Juventus via social media portals like Twitter and Facebook.

It is clear Juventus has already got value for money in the soccer deal of the summer, but now it looks like Ronaldo could prove to be an even bigger bargain — and it's all because he is apparently as fit as a player 13 years younger than he is.

That's the line coming from his medical report, as three key statistics indicate he remains one of the most impressive athletes in world soccer.

Spanish sports publication AS reported that Ronaldo's medical evaluation shows he has just 7% body fat, which is 3% lower than the average for a soccer player. Additionally, Ronaldo has a 50% muscle mass, which is 4% greater than average.

Furthermore, Ronaldo reached a maximum sprint speed of 33.98 kmh during the recent 2018 FIFA World Cup — a speed which is amongst the highest that was registered at the tournament, according to AS.

So what does this mean?

It's simple, really. It means Ronaldo is as fit as a 20-year-old soccer player— as fit, perhaps, as recent World Cup winner Kylian Mbappé, who turns 20 later this year.

It is unclear what the main reasons for Ronaldo's extraordinary fitness levels are. However, his famous diet — which includes fish, lots of vegetables, and fresh fruits— together with his incredible dedication to training, will likely be big factors.

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