#	Athlete	Sport	Country	Career	GOAT Score
1	Lionel Messi	Football	🇦🇷 Argentina	2004–—	96.0
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Football	🇵🇹 Portugal	2002–—	96.1
3	Michael Phelps	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	2000–2016	95.8
5	Pelé	Football	🇧🇷 Brazil	1956–1977	93.2
6	LeBron James	Basketball	🇺🇸 USA	2003–—	95.6
7	Michael Jordan	Basketball	🇺🇸 USA	1984–2003	92.2
8	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1969–1989	94.5
9	Usain Bolt	Athletics	🇯🇲 Jamaica	2004–2017	89.4
10	Carl Lewis	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	1979–1997	92.8
11	Johan Cruyff	Football	🇳🇱 Netherlands	1964–1984	92.2
12	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Football	🇦🇷 Argentina	1945–1966	92.3
13	Franz Beckenbauer	Football	🇩🇪 Germany	1964–1983	92.4
15	Diego Maradona	Football	🇦🇷 Argentina	1976–1997	89.8
17	Ronaldo Nazário	Football	🇧🇷 Brazil	1993–2011	90.3
19	Luis Suárez	Football	🇺🇾 Uruguay	2005–—	91.2
20	Ferenc Puskás	Football	🇭🇺 Hungary	1943–1966	91.1
24	Wilt Chamberlain	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1959–1973	90.6
25	Don Bradman	Cricket	🇦🇺 Australia	1927–1949	92.5
26	Rivaldo	Football	🇧🇷 Brazil	1991–2015	90.4
27	Lev Yashin	Football	🇷🇺 Russia	1950–1971	90.2
28	Zico	Football	🇧🇷 Brazil	1971–1994	90.3
30	Novak Djokovic	Tennis	🇷🇸 Serbia	2003–—	94.5
31	Zinedine Zidane	Football	🇫🇷 France	1989–2006	90.1
32	Bill Russell	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1956–1969	90.5
33	Sugar Ray Robinson	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1940–1965	92.1
35	Muhammad Ali	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1960–1981	91.4
36	Pau Gasol	Basketball	🇪🇸 Spain	1998–2021	91.5
37	Floyd Mayweather	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	1996–2017	91.9
38	Magic Johnson	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1979–1996	89.9
39	Romário	Football	🇧🇷 Brazil	1985–2009	88.9
40	Antoine Griezmann	Football	🇫🇷 France	2009–—	90.1
43	Bobby Charlton	Football	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England	1956–1975	89.6
45	Sadio Mané	Football	🇸🇳 Senegal	2011–—	89.0
54	Larry Bird	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1979–1992	89.0
56	Wladimir Klitschko	Boxing	🇺🇦 Ukraine	1996–2017	90.9
57	Gerd Müller	Football	🇩🇪 Germany	1963–1981	88.3
58	Ray Allen	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1996–2014	90.6
62	Gianluigi Buffon	Football	🇮🇹 Italy	1995–2023	90.3
66	Phog Allen	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1905–1956	90.8
67	Andriy Shevchenko	Football	🇺🇦 Ukraine	1994–2012	88.0
69	Raphaël Varane	Football	🇫🇷 France	2010–2024	88.0
70	Paolo Maldini	Football	🇮🇹 Italy	1984–2009	90.1
71	Andrés Iniesta	Football	🇪🇸 Spain	2002–2024	88.5
72	Robert Lewandowski	Football	🇵🇱 Poland	2006–—	88.7
73	Stanley Matthews	Football	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England	1932–1965	90.3
74	Manu Ginóbili	Basketball	🇦🇷 Argentina	1995–2018	89.8
75	Rick Barry	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1965–1980	88.5
76	Delio Onnis	Football	🇦🇷 Argentina	1971–1986	88.5
80	Kobe Bryant	Basketball	🇺🇸 USA	1996–2016	89.4
81	Sachin Tendulkar	Cricket	🇮🇳 India	1989–2013	93.0

Compare the leaders

Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo

Read the full methodology

Sport lists use the raw In-Sport GOAT Score. Cross-sport lists use the official competition-depth adjustment. No scores are recalculated for this page.

Read the full methodology

Frequently asked questions

How is this ranking calculated?

Five verified components are weighted consistently: dominance, peak, longevity, honours and statistics.

Who is included?

Only verified athletes with sufficient career history, metrics, honours and independent sources are eligible.

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