Who is better, Messi or Foden?
Lionel Messi leads with a GOAT score of 97.0 against 57.4 for Phil Foden — a gap of 39.6 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Messi vs Foden
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
MessiWinner
97.0Messi wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Foden
57.4Foden wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to FootballShareable URL · /compare/messi-vs-ros-phil-foden
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. Phil Foden
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
No verified birth date for Foden — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
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 | MessiActive · Inter Miami CF | FodenActive · Manchester City |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | — |
| Premier League apps | — | 229 |
| Premier League goals | — | 68 |
| Premier League assists | — | 35 |
| BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year | — | 1 |
| Alan Hardaker Trophy | — | 1 |
| Premier League Young Player of the Season | — | 1 |
| PFA Young Player of the Year | — | 1 |
| FIFA Ballon d'Or | — | 1 |
| Shirt number | — | 47 |
| Dominance w25% | 98 | 53.5 |
| Peak w20% | 99 | 75 |
| Longevity w20% | 92 | 57 |
| Honours w20% | 97 | 32 |
| Statistics w15% | 99 | 74.5 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Messi97.0
Foden57.4
FAQ
Where does Foden beat Messi?
Foden does not lead any of the five categories; Messi is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Messi vs Foden score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Messi: 97.0, Foden: 57.4.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Messi vs Foden. 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.