GOAT Rank · 5087

Greatest athletes of all time

This ranking is led by Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Phelps. GOAT Rank currently ranks 5087 eligible athletes using verified career records across dominance, peak, longevity, honours and statistics.

Quick answer

According to GOAT Rank's current model, Lionel Messi ranks #1 on this list with a GOAT Score of 97.0.

How the GOAT Score is calculated →

#AthleteGOAT Score

2251

Chuck Howley

76.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1958–1973
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Chuck Howley

2252

Minna Atherton

76.1

Sport: Swimming
Career: 2015–active
Country: 🇦🇺 Australia

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 74.0
Longevity: 68.0

Athlete: Minna Atherton

2253

Billy Hamilton

76.1

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1888–1901
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Billy Hamilton

2254

Willard Brown

76.1

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1935–1958
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Willard Brown

2255

Johnny Blood

76.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1925–1939
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Johnny Blood

2256

Olapade Adeniken

76.1

Sport: Athletics
Career: 1990–2000
Country: 🇳🇬 Nigeria

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 72.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 76.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Olapade Adeniken

2257

Ed Delahanty

76.1

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1888–1903
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Ed Delahanty

2258

Willie Wells

76.1

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1924–1949
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Willie Wells

2259

Shawn Barber

76.1

Sport: Athletics
Career: 2012–2023
Country: 🇨🇦 Canada

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 70.0

Athlete: Shawn Barber

2260

Marty Friedman

76.1

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1909–1927
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 72.0
Honours: 72.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Marty Friedman

2261

Alina Astafei

76.1

Sport: Athletics
Career: 1987–2003
Country: 🇩🇪 Germany

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 72.0
Statistics: 78.0
Honours: 76.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Alina Astafei

2262

Michael Irvin

76.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1988–1999
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Michael Irvin

2263

Sarah Gibson

76.1

Sport: Swimming
Career: 2013–2019
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 70.0

Athlete: Sarah Gibson

2264

Guy Chamberlin

76.1

Sport: American Football
Career: 1920–1927
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Guy Chamberlin

2265

Ben Duckett

76.1

Sport: Cricket
Career: 2013–active
Country: 🇬🇧 England

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 74.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Ben Duckett

2266

Cuthbert Burnup

76.1

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1895–1907
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 76.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Cuthbert Burnup

2267

Viktor Onopko

76.1

Sport: Football
Career: 1986–2005
Country: 🇷🇺 Russia

Peak: 76.0
Dominance: 72.0
Statistics: 75.0
Honours: 70.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Viktor Onopko

2268

Eric Lindros

76.1

Sport: Ice Hockey
Career: 1992–2007
Country: 🇨🇦 Canada

Peak: 95.0
Dominance: 88.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Eric Lindros

2269

Ian Austin

76.1

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1987–2002
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 84.0

Athlete: Ian Austin

2270

Derek Jeter

76.0

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1992–2014
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Derek Jeter

2271

Junior Seau

76.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1990–2009
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Junior Seau

2272

Tris Speaker

76.0

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1907–1928
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 90.0

Athlete: Tris Speaker

2273

Earl Lloyd

76.0

Sport: Basketball
Career: 1950–1960
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 82.0
Dominance: 70.0
Statistics: 78.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Earl Lloyd

2274

Peter Burge

76.0

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1952–1968
Country: 🇦🇺 Australia

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 74.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Peter Burge

2275

Kevin Mawae

76.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1994–2009
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 80.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Kevin Mawae

2276

Roger Connor

76.0

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1880–1897
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Roger Connor

2277

Steve McMichael

76.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1980–1994
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Steve McMichael

2278

Davante Adams

76.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 2014–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Davante Adams

2279

Mule Suttles

76.0

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1918–1944
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 94.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 88.0

Athlete: Mule Suttles

2280

Umar Gul

76.0

Sport: Cricket
Career: 2003–2016
Country: 🇵🇰 Pakistan

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 88.0
Honours: 76.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Umar Gul

2281

Summer Sanders

76.0

Sport: Swimming
Career: 1988–1994
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 80.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 66.0

Athlete: Summer Sanders

2282

Tom Dean

76.0

Sport: Swimming
Career: 2018–active
Country: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Peak: 88.0
Dominance: 76.0
Statistics: 78.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 70.0

Athlete: Tom Dean

2283

Franchón Crews-Dezurn

76.0

Sport: Boxing
Career: 2016–active
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 78.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 74.0

Athlete: Franchón Crews-Dezurn

2284

John Devitt

76.0

Sport: Swimming
Career: 1955–1960
Country: 🇦🇺 Australia

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 78.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 64.0

Athlete: John Devitt

2285

Ellsworth Vines

76.0

Sport: Tennis
Career: 1930–1940
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 84.0
Longevity: 66.0

Athlete: Ellsworth Vines

2286

Lefty Grove

76.0

Sport: Baseball
Career: 1925–1941
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Lefty Grove

2287

Ken Dryden

76.0

Sport: Ice Hockey
Career: 1970–1979
Country: 🇨🇦 Canada

Peak: 96.0
Dominance: 90.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 94.0
Longevity: 62.0

Athlete: Ken Dryden

2288

Willie Lanier

76.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1967–1977
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Willie Lanier

2289

Orlando Pace

76.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1997–2009
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 82.0

Athlete: Orlando Pace

2290

Dan Fortmann

76.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1936–1943
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 92.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Dan Fortmann

2291

Harry Carson

76.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1976–1988
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 90.0
Honours: 86.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Harry Carson

2292

Len Ford

76.0

Sport: American Football
Career: 1948–1958
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 86.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 90.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Len Ford

2293

Jock Cameron

76.0

Sport: Cricket
Career: 1924–1935
Country: 🇿🇦 South Africa

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 78.0
Statistics: 86.0
Honours: 76.0
Longevity: 76.0

Athlete: Jock Cameron

2294

Frank McGee

76.0

Sport: Ice Hockey
Career: 1903–1906
Country: 🇨🇦 Canada

Peak: 98.0
Dominance: 94.0
Statistics: 94.0
Honours: 88.0
Longevity: 58.0

Athlete: Frank McGee

2295

Eddie Giacomin

76.0

Sport: Ice Hockey
Career: 1965–1978
Country: 🇨🇦 Canada

Peak: 90.0
Dominance: 84.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Eddie Giacomin

2296

Serhiy Breus

76.0

Sport: Swimming
Career: 2006–2016
Country: 🇺🇦 Ukraine

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 72.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 76.0
Longevity: 80.0

Athlete: Serhiy Breus

2297

Annika Bruhn

76.0

Sport: Swimming
Career: 2012–2021
Country: 🇩🇪 Germany

Peak: 84.0
Dominance: 72.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 78.0
Longevity: 78.0

Athlete: Annika Bruhn

2298

Bill Barrett

76.0

Sport: Swimming
Career: 1978–1984
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 86.0
Dominance: 74.0
Statistics: 82.0
Honours: 80.0
Longevity: 72.0

Athlete: Bill Barrett

2299

Ma Long

75.9

Sport: Table Tennis
Career: 2006–active
Country: 🇨🇳 China

Peak: 99.0
Dominance: 99.0
Statistics: 97.0
Honours: 99.0
Longevity: 92.0

Athlete: Ma Long

2300

Brett Hull

75.9

Sport: Ice Hockey
Career: 1986–2005
Country: 🇺🇸 United States

Peak: 92.0
Dominance: 82.0
Statistics: 92.0
Honours: 82.0
Longevity: 86.0

Athlete: Brett Hull

#	Athlete	Sport	Country	Career	GOAT Score
2251	Chuck Howley	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1958–1973	76.1
2252	Minna Atherton	Swimming	🇦🇺 Australia	2015–active	76.1
2253	Billy Hamilton	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1888–1901	76.1
2254	Willard Brown	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1935–1958	76.1
2255	Johnny Blood	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1925–1939	76.1
2256	Olapade Adeniken	Athletics	🇳🇬 Nigeria	1990–2000	76.1
2257	Ed Delahanty	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1888–1903	76.1
2258	Willie Wells	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1924–1949	76.1
2259	Shawn Barber	Athletics	🇨🇦 Canada	2012–2023	76.1
2260	Marty Friedman	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1909–1927	76.1
2261	Alina Astafei	Athletics	🇩🇪 Germany	1987–2003	76.1
2262	Michael Irvin	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1988–1999	76.1
2263	Sarah Gibson	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	2013–2019	76.1
2264	Guy Chamberlin	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1920–1927	76.1
2265	Ben Duckett	Cricket	🇬🇧 England	2013–active	76.1
2266	Cuthbert Burnup	Cricket	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1895–1907	76.1
2267	Viktor Onopko	Football	🇷🇺 Russia	1986–2005	76.1
2268	Eric Lindros	Ice Hockey	🇨🇦 Canada	1992–2007	76.1
2269	Ian Austin	Cricket	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1987–2002	76.1
2270	Derek Jeter	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1992–2014	76.0
2271	Junior Seau	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1990–2009	76.0
2272	Tris Speaker	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1907–1928	76.0
2273	Earl Lloyd	Basketball	🇺🇸 United States	1950–1960	76.0
2274	Peter Burge	Cricket	🇦🇺 Australia	1952–1968	76.0
2275	Kevin Mawae	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1994–2009	76.0
2276	Roger Connor	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1880–1897	76.0
2277	Steve McMichael	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1980–1994	76.0
2278	Davante Adams	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	2014–active	76.0
2279	Mule Suttles	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1918–1944	76.0
2280	Umar Gul	Cricket	🇵🇰 Pakistan	2003–2016	76.0
2281	Summer Sanders	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	1988–1994	76.0
2282	Tom Dean	Swimming	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	2018–active	76.0
2283	Franchón Crews-Dezurn	Boxing	🇺🇸 United States	2016–active	76.0
2284	John Devitt	Swimming	🇦🇺 Australia	1955–1960	76.0
2285	Ellsworth Vines	Tennis	🇺🇸 United States	1930–1940	76.0
2286	Lefty Grove	Baseball	🇺🇸 United States	1925–1941	76.0
2287	Ken Dryden	Ice Hockey	🇨🇦 Canada	1970–1979	76.0
2288	Willie Lanier	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1967–1977	76.0
2289	Orlando Pace	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1997–2009	76.0
2290	Dan Fortmann	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1936–1943	76.0
2291	Harry Carson	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1976–1988	76.0
2292	Len Ford	American Football	🇺🇸 United States	1948–1958	76.0
2293	Jock Cameron	Cricket	🇿🇦 South Africa	1924–1935	76.0
2294	Frank McGee	Ice Hockey	🇨🇦 Canada	1903–1906	76.0
2295	Eddie Giacomin	Ice Hockey	🇨🇦 Canada	1965–1978	76.0
2296	Serhiy Breus	Swimming	🇺🇦 Ukraine	2006–2016	76.0
2297	Annika Bruhn	Swimming	🇩🇪 Germany	2012–2021	76.0
2298	Bill Barrett	Swimming	🇺🇸 United States	1978–1984	76.0
2299	Ma Long	Table Tennis	🇨🇳 China	2006–active	75.9
2300	Brett Hull	Ice Hockey	🇺🇸 United States	1986–2005	75.9

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?

According to GOAT Rank's current data model, only verified athletes with sufficient career history, metrics, honours and independent sources are eligible. Rank and score are read live.

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