Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the greatest soccer players of all time. There is no doubt about that. That’s why, choosing one over the other becomes subjective, and in many cases, a matter of age.
A man who is 50-years old will probably go with Diego Armando Maradona considering his peak came at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and someone elder could pick Pele or even Alfredo Di Stefano.
Beyond personal preferences, those three legends should be definitely in the debate alongside Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who are the referents of a totally new generation.
To try to settle the debate, Artificial Intelligence can be an alternative to determine who is the best player in history. In this case, there are no emotions involved, just numbers.
Who is the greatest soccer player of all time according to Artificial Intelligence?
The question was pretty concrete for ChatGPT. “Who are the five best soccer players of all time?” In a shocking turn of events, Pele took first place, Diego Armando Maradona was second and Lionel Messi finished third. The Top 5 was completed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Johan Cruyff.
According to AI, the main tiebreaker in favor of Pele is that he won three World Cups with Brazil (1958, 1962, and 1970) and scored more than 1000 goals in his career.
In the case of Diego Armando Maradona, it was his legendary performance in the 1986 World Cup, where he led Argentina to victory and scored the famous ‘Goal of the Century’ in a match against England during the quarterfinals at Estadio Azteca.
Though Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo seemed like a lock in the Top 5, Johan Cruyff is definitely the well deserved ‘dark horse’. AI considered Cruyff as the fifth best player of all time not only because of the titles he won, but also thanks to his influence on the game beyond the field. Even without a World Cup title, Johan made it.
Notable absences in the ranking
Well, even for AI this was a massive question to answer. Though the players in the Top 5 have great arguments to make the list, these are some remarkable names who didn’t make the cut.
Alfredo Di Stefano, Ronaldo, Franz Beckenbauer, Zinedine Zidane, Lev Yashin, Juan Alberto Schiaffino or Ferenc Puskas. Of course, there are many other players with pretty solid accolades to break the Top 5.
SURVEY Who is the best soccer player of all time?
Who is the best soccer player of all time?
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