(CNN) In Diego Maradona's world, he's still number one.

Asked by CNN anchor Becky Anderson to pick between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as to who is the world's top footballer, Argentina's former World Cup winner emphatically endorsed the Barcelona star -- but quickly worked himself into the conversation.

"The thing is, my goals were more beautiful," insisted Maradona.

However, even Maradona, who led Argentina to victory over West Germany in the 1986 World Cup final, was forced to concede the 27-year-old Messi is trumping him in the goalscoring stakes.

Messi is "killing it with his goals," admitted the 54-year-old -- a nod to Messi's prolific career scoring record of 328 and counting for Barcelona and Argentina, far outweighing Maradona's own tally of 293 for club and country.

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