While the FIFA World Cup has concluded, people are still going on about the Soccer GOAT debate. Despite Lionel Messi clinching the elusive Cup, it feels difficult to judge who the best player of the tournament was. Even F1 drivers jumped in on this debate and named their GOATs and favorite players. Although, the 2022 champion Max Verstappen certainly went left-field on his favorite soccer player choice.

In a recent interview during the World Cup, Verstappen revealed who is his favorite soccer player. The Dutchman stated, “I got a good connection with Virgil [van Dijk]. He came to a race last year [in 2021]. In Silverstone as well. I think he is just an amazing defender.”

Keeping Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo aside, Max went for the Dutch maestro as his favorite. While Virgil van Dijk captained the Netherlands side to a Round of 16 tie against Messi’s Argentina; he fell short to take them past the eventual champions. As, Virgil is a center-back defender; Max also named another striker he loves to watch.

The Red Bull driver picked France’s Kylian Mbappe amongst the forwards as his favorite. He said, “For me like the forwards, it is [Kylian] Mbappe. I just admire how athletic he is. It’s unbelievable how explosive he is and how fast. That’s something I would love to be as well.”

To Mbappe’s credit for his speed and athleticism; the Frenchman single-handedly put his team back in the contest in the World Cup Final. When it all seemed over, Mbappe’s 2 goals within the space of 97 seconds were a game-changer.

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So, Max’s favorite soccer stars might uphold his fandom. Though, the Dutchman has also tried to settle the Messi-Ronaldo GOAT debate. Either way, there was a time when Verstappen himself tried to be remotely as good as these soccer legends in a charity game.

Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, and Fernando Alonso as the F1 All-Stars

Back at the 2016 Italian GP, Max Verstappen played a charity game with soccer veterans Robert Pires and Michael Salgado. This was a 5-side game on the Monza pit straight and it was Fernando Alonso leading the F1 All-stars team including Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, and Jolyon Palmer.

The F1 All-stars were playing decently, but were no match against the legends of the game and went 7 goals down initially. But then, Max and Fernando came to their saving to get them back in the hunt. Verstappen scored a great goal from Alonso’s assist via a header, to boost the team’s morale.

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Besides them, Checo and Daniel were also doing their best to make up the deficit. Eventually, it was a lot of fun and thrilling game for both sides. The F1 All-stars finally lost by a scoreline of 22 – 10. Still, Alonso’s side showed a lot of fight to give us an entertaining game.

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Verstappen, Alonso, and Perez have got some soccer skills. But, they would love to drive their F1 cars at 200 mph down the Monza pit straight rather than get floored badly in a mini-soccer game.