Category profile
- Dominance
- 76
- Peak
- 82
- Longevity
- 84
- Honours
- 80
- Statistics
- 76
Career timeline · Goals per season
| Season | Goals per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 30 | |
| 1998 | 33 | |
| 1999 | 34 | |
| 2000 | 32 | |
| 2001 | 30 | |
| 2002 | 28 | |
| 2003 | 32 | |
| 2004 | 34 | |
| 2005 | 30 | |
| 2006 | 33 | |
| 2007 | 35 | |
| 2008 | 31 | |
| 2009 | 28 | |
| 2010 | 24 | |
| 2011 | 20 | |
| 2012 | 16 |
Data sources
- Premier League
- UEFA
- Transfermarkt
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Rio Ferdinand ranks #115 in Football
Rio Ferdinand ranks 115th among Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 564th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 79.6 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 76, Peak 82, Longevity 84, Honours 80, Statistics 76. 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 1996–2015 with 16 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2007, which sets the Peak component at 82. Longevity is the defining strength of the profile at 84 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes premier league titles 6, champions league titles 1, appearances 673, england caps 81.
Immediately ahead sits Verónica Boquete on 78.8, a gap of -0.8 points. Directly behind is Michael Ballack on 80.5. 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.
Rio Ferdinand GOAT Score explained
- Dominance76/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Ferdinand stood above the field while competing. Scored 76/100 against the full Football cohort.
- Peak82/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2007. Scored 82/100.
- Longevity84/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 19 years of competition and 16 recorded seasons. Scored 84/100.
- Honours80/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 80/100.
- Statistics76/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 76/100.
Top Ferdinand comparisons
Rio Ferdinand — frequently asked
- Is Rio Ferdinand the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Rio Ferdinand ranks 115th in Football with a GOAT Score of 79.6, behind Cristiano Ronaldo on 95.5.
- What is Rio Ferdinand's GOAT Score?
- 79.6 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 76 (25%), Peak 82 (20%), Longevity 84 (20%), Honours 80 (20%), Statistics 76 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Rio Ferdinand rank all time?
- 564th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 115th within Football.
- Rio Ferdinand vs Verónica Boquete: who ranks higher?
- Rio Ferdinand, on 79.6 against Verónica Boquete's 78.8 — a margin of 0.8 points.