Category profile
- Dominance
- 88
- Peak
- 96
- Longevity
- 88
- Honours
- 90
- Statistics
- 94
Career timeline · Goals per season
| Season | Goals per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 50 | |
| 1972 | 54 | |
| 1973 | 59 | |
| 1974 | 63 | |
| 1975 | 67 | |
| 1976 | 72 | |
| 1977 | 76 | |
| 1978 | 81 | |
| 1979 | 85 | |
| 1980 | 89 | |
| 1981 | 94 | |
| 1982 | 98 | |
| 1983 | 92 | |
| 1984 | 87 | |
| 1985 | 81 | |
| 1986 | 75 | |
| 1987 | 70 | |
| 1988 | 64 | |
| 1989 | 58 | |
| 1990 | 53 | |
| 1991 | 47 | |
| 1992 | 41 | |
| 1993 | 36 | |
| 1994 | 30 |
Data sources
- FIFA official records
- UEFA competition archives
- National federation and club records
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Zico ranks #17 in Football
Zico ranks 17th among Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 28th of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 90.9 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 88, Peak 96, Longevity 88, Honours 90, Statistics 94. Those categories are normalised against the full Football reference universe of 895 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1971–1994 with 24 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1982, which sets the Peak component at 96. Peak 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 south american footballer of the year awards 3, intercontinental cup titles 1, copa libertadores titles 1, career goals 527.
Immediately ahead sits Lev Yashin on 90.9, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Betty Vignotto on 90.9. 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.
Zico GOAT Score explained
- Dominance88/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Zico stood above the field while competing. Scored 88/100 against the full Football cohort.
- Peak96/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1982. Scored 96/100.
- Longevity88/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 23 years of competition and 24 recorded seasons. Scored 88/100.
- Honours90/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 90/100.
- Statistics94/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 94/100.
Top Zico comparisons
Zico — frequently asked
- Is Zico the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Zico ranks 17th in Football with a GOAT Score of 90.9, behind Lionel Messi on 97.0.
- What is Zico's GOAT Score?
- 90.9 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 88 (25%), Peak 96 (20%), Longevity 88 (20%), Honours 90 (20%), Statistics 94 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Zico rank all time?
- 28th of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 17th within Football.
- Zico vs Lev Yashin: who ranks higher?
- Zico, on 90.9 against Lev Yashin's 90.9 — a margin of 0.0 points.