Who is better, de Gea or Messi?
Lionel Messi leads with a GOAT score of 97.0 against 82.5 for David de Gea — a gap of 14.5 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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de Gea vs Messi
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
MessiWinner
97.0Messi wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
de Gea
82.5de Gea wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to FootballShareable URL · /compare/david-de-gea-vs-messi
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
97.0
Messi leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Lionel Messi
2. David de Gea
Category breakdown
Season form · Goals per season
Career timeline · Goals per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 21 · Goals per season
1. 🇪🇸 David de Gea92 goals
3 seasons by age 21 · 30.7 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
2. 🇦🇷 Lionel Messi79 goals
4 seasons by age 21 · 19.8 per season
Messi is -14.1% behind de Gea's pace at age 21
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 21, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | de GeaActive | MessiActive · Inter Miami CF |
|---|---|---|
| Premier League Golden Glove | 2 | — |
| Europa League titles | 2 | — |
| Spain caps | 45 | — |
| Premier League titles | 1 | — |
| League appearances | 450 | — |
| Career goals | — | 879 |
| Career assists | — | 383 |
| Ballon d'Or | — | 8 |
| World Cups | — | 1 |
| Champions League titles | — | 4 |
| League titles | — | 12 |
| Goals per 90 | — | 0.79 |
| Dominance w25% | 82 | 98 |
| Peak w20% | 88 | 99 |
| Longevity w20% | 80 | 92 |
| Honours w20% | 78 | 97 |
| Statistics w15% | 85 | 99 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Messi97.0
de Gea82.5
FAQ
Where does de Gea beat Messi?
de Gea does not lead any of the five categories; Messi is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the de Gea vs Messi score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. de Gea: 82.5, Messi: 97.0.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for de Gea vs Messi. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.