Category profile
- Dominance
- 87
- Peak
- 87
- Longevity
- 96
- Honours
- 89
- Statistics
- 84
Career timeline · Goals per season
| Season | Goals per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 32 | |
| 1986 | 36 | |
| 1987 | 38 | |
| 1988 | 40 | |
| 1989 | 42 | |
| 1990 | 39 | |
| 1991 | 41 | |
| 1992 | 40 | |
| 1993 | 42 | |
| 1994 | 38 | |
| 1995 | 36 | |
| 1996 | 38 | |
| 1997 | 34 | |
| 1998 | 32 | |
| 1999 | 30 | |
| 2000 | 28 | |
| 2001 | 26 | |
| 2002 | 24 | |
| 2003 | 20 | |
| 2004 | 18 | |
| 2005 | 16 | |
| 2006 | 14 | |
| 2007 | 12 | |
| 2008 | 10 |
Data sources
- UEFA
- Serie A
- FIGC
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Paolo Maldini ranks #13 in Football
Paolo Maldini ranks 13th among Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 39th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 88.8 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 87, Peak 87, Longevity 96, Honours 89, Statistics 84. Those categories are normalised against the full Football reference universe of 875 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1984–2009 with 24 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1989, which sets the Peak component at 87. Longevity is the defining strength of the profile at 96 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes appearances 902, champions league titles 5, serie a titles 7, international caps 126.
Immediately ahead sits Zinedine Zidane on 90.6, a gap of 1.8 points. Directly behind is Diego Maradona on 92.0. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Paolo Maldini GOAT Score explained
- Dominance87/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Maldini stood above the field while competing. Scored 87/100 against the full Football cohort.
- Peak87/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1989. Scored 87/100.
- Longevity96/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 25 years of competition and 24 recorded seasons. Scored 96/100.
- Honours89/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 89/100.
- Statistics84/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 84/100.
Top Maldini comparisons
Paolo Maldini — frequently asked
- Is Paolo Maldini the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Paolo Maldini ranks 13th in Football with a GOAT Score of 88.8, behind Cristiano Ronaldo on 95.5.
- What is Paolo Maldini's GOAT Score?
- 88.8 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 87 (25%), Peak 87 (20%), Longevity 96 (20%), Honours 89 (20%), Statistics 84 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Paolo Maldini rank all time?
- 39th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 13th within Football.
- Paolo Maldini vs Zinedine Zidane: who ranks higher?
- Zinedine Zidane, on 90.6 against Paolo Maldini's 88.8 — a margin of 1.8 points.