With the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium fast approaching on July 19, Donald Trump is set to be at the very centre of one of football's most iconic moments.

According to TalkSPORT, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has personally informed Trump that he has full licence to present the World Cup trophy however he sees fit - including staying beside the winning captain during the lift itself.

It would not be the first time Trump has made his presence felt at a major trophy ceremony.

At the Club World Cup earlier this year, Trump positioned himself next to Chelsea captain Reece James as he hoisted the trophy, with Cole Palmer later admitting he had not expected Trump to be standing where Chelsea lifted the cup.

The tournament itself has not been without controversy.

Several flashpoints have defined a deeply controversial World Cup build-up, including the decision to deny Somali referee Omar Artan entry into the country, while Iran's participation hung in the balance for weeks amid ongoing tensions with the United States.

Trump, as ever, has remained the central figure throughout.

But away from the politics, the US president has also shown himself to be a genuine football fan - one with a clear club allegiance and an even clearer opinion on the greatest player the game has ever produced.

Speaking to journalist and Arsenal supporter Piers Morgan back in 2018, Trump was presented with a Gunners shirt with his name on the back, with Morgan attempting to recruit the president as an Arsenal fan. It did not go to plan.

"Not particularly, no," Trump told Morgan when asked if he supported the north London side. "I have a friend who owns Manchester United."

That friend is Edward Glazer, co-owner of the Red Devils, who is reported to have donated £45,000 during Trump's first presidential campaign.

It is a connection that some will say gives Trump's views on football's greatest player a layer of bias.

Donald Trump names the greatest player of all time

When it comes to the greatest player of all time, Trump has not been shy about his answer.

Posting on Truth Social after a phone call with Cristiano Ronaldo, he wrote: "What an incredible guy he is, not only as an athlete, but as a person. You don't get any better!!!"

The White House went even further, captioning footage of the two men together with the words: "Two GOATs."

The pair developed a warm, mutually admiring public relationship after Ronaldo expressed his desire to meet the president, and subsequently attended a White House dinner as part of a Saudi delegation.

Trump even joked the visit earned him rare respect at home.

"My son is a big fan of Ronaldo," he said during the dinner. "Barron got to meet him, and I think he respects his father a little bit more now, just the fact that I introduced you."

It is a verdict that puts Trump in very distinguished company. In his 2013 autobiography, Sir Alex Ferguson - who managed Ronaldo at Old Trafford for six years - was equally unambiguous.

"Cristiano Ronaldo was the most gifted player I managed," Ferguson wrote. "He surpassed all the other great ones I coached at United."

More recently, Sir Jim Ratcliffe revealed that Ferguson had not changed his mind, recounting a conversation at a League Managers Association dinner in which he asked Ferguson who the best player he had ever coached was - and Ferguson's answer was Ronaldo.

Ferguson spent the best part of three decades managing some of the finest players the game has ever seen. Trump is the sitting US president who has been criticised for the extent of his involvement in football's greatest competition.

They don't have much in common, but their answers are identical.