Who is better? Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? This question has occupied the minds of football fans for years, as the two great stars dominated the fields and controlled major titles, until a British academic finally provided a scientific answer. Dr. Tom Crawford from the University of Oxford designed a complex data model to determine the top 10 players in the history of football, selected based on specific criteria and ranked using numerical statistics.
The academic created his innovative model at the request of the website "LIVESCORE" to determine the greatest player of all time, a challenging task that he approached enthusiastically, according to an article published by the Spanish newspaper "Marca".
The model was based on specific criteria, including the number of titles with clubs, national teams, goals scored with the club, international goals, winning the Best Player award (at least twice), recorded achievements, and finally, the impact during standout seasons. Through a complex calculation method, points were awarded for each category, taking into account the varying difficulty of certain achievements and rewarding players who succeeded in multiple league titles.
According to the point calculations, Dr. Crawford announced the top ten players in football history, thus settling the historical comparison between Messi and Ronaldo. According to the academic model, the Portuguese topped the list thanks to his exceptional international goal record and success in multiple domestic leagues (England, Spain, and Italy), allowing him to surpass his Argentine rival who recently transferred to Paris Saint-Germain.
The results of the top ten players are as follows, with the total score being out of 100 points:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 100
2. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 94
3. Pelé (Brazil) – 85
4. Ferenc Puskás (Hungary) – 57
5. Ronaldo Nazário (Brazil) – 52
6. Marco van Basten (Netherlands) – 44
7. Alfredo Di Stéfano (Spain) – 37
8. Michel Platini (France) – 33
9. Diego Maradona (Argentina) – 31
10. Johan Cruyff (Netherlands) – 30
It is noted that Ronaldo, who recently returned to his former club Manchester United, broke a historic record held by Iranian Ali Daei for several years, becoming the highest international goal scorer with a total of 111 goals.
