Who is better, Ter Stegen or Messi?
Lionel Messi leads with a GOAT score of 97.0 against 83.6 for Marc-André ter Stegen — a gap of 13.4 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Ter Stegen vs Messi
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
MessiWinner
97.0Messi wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Ter Stegen
83.6Ter Stegen wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to FootballShareable URL · /compare/marc-andre-ter-stegen-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. Marc-André ter Stegen
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. 🇦🇷 Lionel Messi79 goals
4 seasons by age 21 · 19.8 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
2. 🇩🇪 Marc-André ter Stegen74 goals
3 seasons by age 21 · 24.7 per season
Ter Stegen is -6.3% behind Messi'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 | Ter StegenActive | MessiActive · Inter Miami CF |
|---|---|---|
| Champions League titles | 1 | 4 |
| La Liga titles | 5 | — |
| Germany caps | 44 | — |
| Copa del Rey titles | 5 | — |
| Confederations Cup titles | 1 | — |
| Career goals | — | 879 |
| Career assists | — | 383 |
| Ballon d'Or | — | 8 |
| World Cups | — | 1 |
| League titles | — | 12 |
| Goals per 90 | — | 0.79 |
| Dominance w25% | 82 | 98 |
| Peak w20% | 86 | 99 |
| Longevity w20% | 82 | 92 |
| Honours w20% | 86 | 97 |
| Statistics w15% | 82 | 99 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Messi97.0
Ter Stegen83.6
FAQ
Where does Ter Stegen beat Messi?
Ter Stegen does not lead any of the five categories; Messi is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Ter Stegen vs Messi score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Ter Stegen: 83.6, Messi: 97.0.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Ter Stegen 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.