#	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
4	Marta Vieira da Silva	Football	🇧🇷 Brazil	2002–—	94.6
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
14	Diana Taurasi	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	2004–2025	93.7
15	Diego Maradona	Football	🇦🇷 Argentina	1976–1997	89.8
16	Katie Ledecky	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	2012–—	92.5
17	Ronaldo Nazário	Football	🇧🇷 Brazil	1993–2011	90.3
18	Kristine Lilly	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1987–2010	93.4
19	Luis Suárez	Football	🇺🇾 Uruguay	2005–—	91.2
20	Ferenc Puskás	Football	🇭🇺 Hungary	1943–1966	91.1
21	Mia Hamm	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1987–2004	90.7
22	Hege Riise	Football	🇳🇴 Norway	1990–2004	90.2
23	Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce	Athletics	🇯🇲 Jamaica	2007–—	91.4
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
29	Betty Vignotto	Football	🇮🇹 Italy	1970–1990	90.6
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
34	Carli Lloyd	Football	🇺🇸 United States	2005–2021	89.7
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
41	Allyson Felix	Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	2003–2022	90.5
42	Patrizia Panico	Football	🇮🇹 Italy	1991–2016	90.3
43	Bobby Charlton	Football	🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England	1956–1975	89.6
44	Cristiane Rozeira	Football	🇧🇷 Brazil	2002–—	89.5
45	Sadio Mané	Football	🇸🇳 Senegal	2011–—	89.0
46	Alexia Putellas	Football	🇪🇸 Spain	2010–—	88.1
47	Christine Sinclair	Football	🇨🇦 Canada	2000–2023	90.5
48	Tiffeny Milbrett	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1991–2006	88.7
49	Joy Fawcett	Football	🇺🇸 United States	1987–2004	89.8
50	Megan Rapinoe	Football	🇺🇸 United States	2006–2023	88.8

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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