The 10 Most Pointless Debates in World Football (Ranked)

The 10 Most Pointless Debates in World Football (Ranked)

Over the years in football, we have seen many debates rise and many debates that seem to be questionable or one sided. This has especially happened with the increase in social media where more and more people have their views and opinions out for people to see. So today we will be looking at and ranking the 10 most pointless debates in football.

10 – What if debates

Everyone likes a what if debate, whether that’s a debate about a player not leaving a club and staying or a player not having the injuries that they did. While they are fun to do and look at what could’ve been with some of the greatest players, they are ultimately pointless. This is because we never know what would’ve happened. Football is very unpredictable; we don’t know what would’ve happened and you can’t debate that someone would’ve been better if they never got that injury or if they never left that club. They were doing what they thought was best for their career, therefore, they know more than us as fans. We can have our opinions but debating it like it is fact is untimely pointless.

9 – Using the Ballan D’or as a way to rank players

Yes, the Ballan D’or is the most prestigious individual award in football, it can’t be used as a way to debate what players are better than others. Every generation will have a different level of ability and will have different levels of Ballan D’or winners meaning that there will be some players who never won it in one era but won might have won it in a different era. The Ballan D’or as a way of debating who was better was stopped during the Ronaldo and Messi era where they won every single award in a decade with many worldclass players not even getting a sniff. This immediately stopped this kind of debate or should have at least.

8 – Has X manager underperformed?

It feels like this is a main way of rival fans putting down certain clubs or managers. As a fan everyone has different expectations of what a manager should be doing and what they have done before, however, this will change between every fan. Ultimately it is up to the owners and board to decide if they think the manager has underperformed and us as fans don’t have that choice, we can voice our opinion on the matter, but debating it and trying to make it seem like a fact that a certain manager isn’t doing well enough or hasn’t reached the levels with the team they have. It does feel like this debate is mainly used as a way of putting down other teams or just as a way of making your team seem better than another.

7 – Who are the biggest clubs in X league

Every league will have this type of debate to try and see what club is the biggest. However, there are too many metrics to decide this. What do you mean by biggest? Largest domestic fan base, largest global fan base, most successful? These are some of the metrics that can be used when trying to figure out what club is the biggest or used trying to debate why a certain club is the biggest. One of the main issues with this are the biggest clubs in the league are always changing as the biggest club 20 years ago would’ve changed from now as they might not be seeing close to the success that they had 20 years ago, and this would decrease other factors. Therefore, this debate is pointless especially as every fan will debate that their club is the biggest in the league.

6 – What should the England lineup be for the World Cup?

Everyone has done this at some point, discussed who they think should be starting where when it comes to the World Cup. However, there isn’t much point getting into a debate about it as no one is factually correct. It is always changing some players in form now could drop out when it comes to the summer, someone could pick up an injury that puts them out of the World Club. The decision is also down to Tuchel who we’ve never seen pick a squad for a competitive competition. We got used to Southgate’s who picked the same team for every competition and picked the players who were the best. Tuchel looks like he will pick players who suit the system that he wants to play, therefore, big names that we say might not start. As literally no one knows what the team will be, there is very little point in getting into a debate about who starts or ‘who needs to start’.

Thomas Tuchel says Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane cannot all play together in England’s current system and warned he will not dodge “tough decisions” for the World Cup 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/jlPrtr76Zf

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 12, 2025

5 – Who are the greatest players to play in each position?

This type of debate is always thrown around when talking about certain players and it’s another pointless one as you can never tell how good a player is when comparing to another player. This is because almost every team and every player in those teams play a different way in a different system. Someone might be better at something than another player, but worse at other things. This would mean that if the players were to swap teams, they would be worse as they wouldn’t have the ability to play as well in that system. The idea of saying who the great players are isn’t black and white as everyone has watched and has seen different players, people also value attributes differently. This changes who they believe is the best player to have played in a certain position. Someone could compere Virgil Van Dijk to John Terry and say that Van Dijk is better as they’ve seen him more and have seen him play well in a system that fits him, however, someone else could think the same this time with Terry. When team’s and system are involved, it is impossible to figure out who is better and it makes it pointless to debate that.

4 – Lampard Scholes and Gerrard debate

A massively debated topic in England between 3 fan bases and one that will never be ended. Everyone has an opinion on this debate, and it all comes down to what you value most within the midfield. Lampard is the best goal scorer. Gerrard is the best all-rounder, Scholes the best passer. These 3 midfielders are all the some of the greatest in the leagues history and no one of them will ever officially be the best. Even ex pros won’t say that there is a factually best player out of the 3 of them as they all thrive doing different things. The idea of debating it is pointless as there will never be a fact that one of them is the best, it is all your own opinion about who the best between the 3 is.

3 – X player would get into X team

A very popular debate especially on social media such as TikTok. However, it is pointless as players are either good enough that they can get into teams, or they won’t fit the system within the team. The idea that a player is good enough to get into any team was an old idea that many people used to show how good someone is at their club, however, now people have made it players getting into some of the best teams in history. This one is the more pointless as those players showed why they were there and why they can’t be replaced. If a team is winning, then no player gets into the team over players as it can throw off the balance of the team. No matter how good the player is teams that win can’t have players replaced by anyone. The idea that it could’ve made the team better and more dominant is pointless as they have already won, with most of the time them having won the league or UCL. These debates are pointless as most of the time you will be looking at a modern player ‘getting into teams’ with some of the greatest players to have ever played their position. The answer to almost all of these is a flat no.

2 – Hazard vs Salah

Another player based one and one where every international break fans bring up. There isn’t an answer for this that’s the short version. These are 2 of the greatest players to have ever touched the Prem and 2 very different players. Some players you can compare as they are similar players, however, these 2 no, you can’t. Salah is perfect for Liverpool as he is an output machine. He is a winger who will score 20 league goals a season and provide 10 assists on top of that. He will win you a league with pure output. However, Hazard would win you a league with his ability to beat and man making space for his team and his ability to be on the pitch and make space for his team. These 2 are such different players, Salah a machine and Hazard an artist, that they can’t be compared. No considering that both of their fan bases would die on the hill that one of them is better, there will never be any changing the views, therefore, making this debate pointless

Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has his say on the Salah vs Hazard debate👀 pic.twitter.com/Yk4qMs6EFU

— The Shinguards (@shinguardss) January 20, 2025

1 – Messi vs Ronaldo

Probably the debate everyone thought would be first. The 2 greatest players of all time and obviously they would always be debated by their fans for who is better. The answer is whoever, you prefer watching and who you think personally matches what you think makes a player better. Most people have grown up watching both of these men during their primes and this has caused people to see 2 superhumans go head-to-head and as expected pick sides. However, as said before, they are different players, so you can have a view who is better. Ronaldo and trained machine who has been able to become the deadliest goal scorer of all time and Messi the most gifted player to have ever touched the pitch and won everything that can be won. They both has claims to be the greatest and everyone can have their opinion. However, as they reach the twilight of their careers, the debate is pointless so just enjoy them while they are still around and active.