Who is the best soccer player in history? This says science

The debates about who is the best soccer player will continue over time.

Some say that Diego Maradona, others that Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo and even Pelé. Of course many, for example, could say that they were surprised by Ronaldinho. Or that Johan Cruyff was close to lifting the world cup and even Marco Van Basten left very young covered in glory.

(It may interest you: These are the top scorers at the national team level).

Reaching a consensus is not so easy.

However, when it comes to defining who is the best soccer player the world has never seen, a professor at Oxford University took it upon himself to use his knowledge in Math to elaborate a formula that gave a result to demonstrate, according to the numbers, who is at the top of the list of the most players winners of history.

Together with the ‘LiveScore’ site, mathematician Tom Crawford called his experiment GOAT (acronym for ‘greatest of all times’ which means ‘best of all times’, in Spanish) and to have a sample group he decided to choose to footballers who have won two or more Ballon d’Ors.

The result obtained by the mathematician was a ranking of 10 playerswhich he arrived at with different variables.

Among them, the first two were the goals and titles achieved in their clubs; the following goals and international titles; after the Ballon d’Ors received, it also took into account individual awards and milestones and, finally, ‘z’ factors that had to do with other achievements.

(Keep reading: Cristiano trains for the first time with United).

The top positions are debated between the current stars: Messi and Ronaldo.

If the number of goals in all competitions is analyzed, Leo is above CR7, with 683 marks in 811 games, while the Portuguese has 674 in 897 games.

Although the current player of the psg wins in number of cups won in clubs, with 35 trophies, the player who has just ‘come home’ after being transferred to Manchester Utd He has one more Champions League and titles in three different countries.

Another plus for Cristiano is the record he recently achieved with the Portugal team, after scoring two goals against Ireland in the Qualifiers and establishing himself as the top-scoring footballer for national teams in history: he has 111 goals. The Flea is 76.

The Argentine and the Portuguese tie if tournaments won with their countries is a question, given that both once won the most important continental competitions: the Copa América (in 2020 Messi raised it) and the eurocup (Cristiano was consecrated in 2016).

Taking all these variables into account, the algorithm developed by the mathematician Crawford left the ranking as follows:

Cristiano Ronaldo

He is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Manchester United, known as CR7. He has managed to obtain several records. Between them get four golden boots.

(We recommend: Cristiano Ronaldo and the prohibition he made to his mother).

Lionel Messi

Lionel Mesi is also known as ‘La Pulga’. He recently left Barcelona, ​​his lifelong home, and now he plays for Paris Saint-Germain.

(Also: After the failed classic against Brazil, Argentina thinks of Bolivia).

Pele

He is a former Brazilian soccer player who shone in the 1960s and 1970s. He won the 1958, 1962, and 1970 World Cups with Brazil. Known for being the first player to reach the four-digit mark in his personal account, since on the 19th of November 1969, the Brazilian idol became the first footballer to score 1,000 goals.

(We recommend: ‘I’m recovering well’: Pelé after undergoing surgery).

Ferenc Puskas

He was a Spanish-Hungarian player and historical member of the Budapesti Honvéd Sport Egyesület and Real Madrid teams. In 1952 he won a gold medal at the Helsinki Olympics and in 1954 he was runner-up in the World Cup in Switzerland. He was chosen by FIFA as the top scorer of the century.

(Of your interest: ‘I can’t play soccer’: the drama of the top scorer in the World Cups).

Ronaldo Nazario

Legendary figure of the Brazilian team. During his career he won the World Cup in 2002, a Confederations Cup in 1997, a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympic Games and two Copa América in 1997 and 1999. He was also recognized by FIFA with the FIFA World Player Award three times ( 1996,1997 and 2002).

Marco Van Basten

He is a former Dutch soccer player known as one of the best forwards in history. In 2004 he was chosen as one of the most important personalities in the Netherlands and also in the same year, he was recognized by the IFFHS as the best footballer of the century. It is worth noting that, due to an injury, he retired from soccer at a very young age.

alfredo di stefano

He was an Argentine former soccer player and coach who won the European Cup and obtained a historical record for scoring seven goals in this competition. When he retired he was the top scorer in the history of Real Madrid.

(Keep reading: Collection of objects by Alfredo Di Stéfano, up for auction).

Added to this ranking Michel Platini, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff, in that order.

Beyond the mathematical formulas, football has the ability to create eternal idols: those who shout goal. Or those who stop them. Or those who put the ball in the angle. Or they dribble to six and score a great goal. Or they win a World Cup at 17 years old.

If anything, they make sports fans happy.

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With information from La Nación / Argentina (GDA)