GOAT Index

Two legends at a time. Thousands of votes. One ranking.

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Who is the greatest footballer of all time?

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    Men's football GOAT ranking: the fans' top 25

    Based on 74 head-to-head votes from 4 fans. Updated live.

    1. Lionel Messi Forward · Argentina · rating 1970 · 6–0
    2. Cristiano Ronaldo Forward · Portugal · rating 1828 · 4–1
    3. Pelé Forward · Brazil · rating 1799 · 4–0
    4. Ronaldo Nazário Forward · Brazil · rating 1741 · 3–1
    5. Diego Maradona Forward · Argentina · rating 1731 · 5–2
    6. Erling Haaland Forward · Norway · rating 1644 · 3–2
    7. Thierry Henry Forward · France · rating 1641 · 9–4
    8. Zinedine Zidane Midfielder · France · rating 1624 · 3–2
    9. Kylian Mbappé Forward · France · rating 1597 · 4–2
    10. Johan Cruyff Forward · Netherlands · rating 1592 · 3–2
    11. Gianluigi Buffon Goalkeeper · Italy · rating 1580 · 1–0
    12. Ferenc Puskás Forward · Hungary · rating 1571 · 2–2
    13. Paolo Maldini Defender · Italy · rating 1525 · 4–3
    14. Franz Beckenbauer Defender · Germany · rating 1520 · 2–2
    15. Eusébio Forward · Portugal · rating 1489 · 3–4
    16. George Best Winger · Northern Ireland · rating 1450 · 2–3
    17. Alfredo Di Stéfano Forward · Argentina, Spain · rating 1448 · 1–2
    18. Robert Lewandowski Forward · Poland · rating 1422 · 3–4
    19. Lothar Matthäus Midfielder · Germany · rating 1421 · 0–1
    20. Michel Platini Midfielder · France · rating 1419 · 3–4
    21. Marco van Basten Forward · Netherlands · rating 1394 · 4–4
    22. Garrincha Winger · Brazil · rating 1375 · 1–4
    23. Zico Midfielder · Brazil · rating 1345 · 0–2
    24. Xavi Midfielder · Spain · rating 1316 · 1–3
    25. Bobby Charlton Midfielder · England · rating 1313 · 2–4

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    Questions

    Who is the Men's football GOAT according to fans?

    Lionel Messi currently leads the GOAT Index Men's football ranking after 74 head-to-head votes from 4 fans.

    How is the ranking calculated?

    Fans vote on head-to-head matchups between two legends. Every vote counts like a game result, and a Bradley–Terry model (the idea behind chess ratings) turns thousands of results into one ranking, where beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot.

    More GOAT debates

    Men: NBA · Men's tennis · NFL · MLB · NHL · Men's boxing · Formula 1 · Men's table tennis

    Women: Women's basketball · Women's football · Women's tennis · Women's ice hockey · Women's boxing · Women's table tennis

    How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.

    One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.

    Anonymous by design. No account needed. A quick bot check from Cloudflare runs once when you arrive, and your votes are tied to a random ID kept in your browser, not to your name or email. Privacy policy.

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