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The football world has been divided in the Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi debate for over a decade. An English academic has now attempted to deduce who is better based on mathematics, as reported by Marca.
The Portuguese broke into the world football scene in the colors of Manchester United in 2003. A year later, it was the Argentinean’s turn to emerge in the shirt of Barcelona. The two youngsters hinted at a budding rivalry quite early in their careers. Things spiced up further when Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009.
By then, Lionel Messi was already a household name and was heralded by fans as the greatest of all time. For the next nine years, the two of them would push each other to the limit. The world stayed divided into two; you either sided with the Portuguese or swore allegiance to the Argentinean.
Dr. Tom Crawford, a mathematician at Oxford University, was asked by LiveScore to formulate a G.O.A.T index to answer the proverbial question – Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?
LiveScore, interestingly, has the Portuguese ace as their global ambassador. The academic devised a mathematical model to analyze the top ten male footballers of all time, a list which included the Manchester United ace as well as the Paris Saint-Germain star.
Dr. Crawford created a framework of seven categories for assessment. These included club trophies, club goals, international trophies, international goals, Ballon d’Ors, records, and outstanding individual seasons, known as Z-factor seasons. A minimum of two Ballon d’Or was required to be considered for the list. Players received points based on different factors. Difficulties of achieving some milestones were taken into consideration, while special points were awarded for players who had succeeded in different leagues.
Dr. Crawford’s model ultimately saw Cristiano Ronaldo edge past Lionel Messi in the rankings. The Portuguese received 100 points, while the Argentinean came second on the list with 94.
Here are the top 10 footballers of all-time as per the mathematical model: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Pele, Diego Maradona, Marco van Basten, Johan Cruyff, Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano, Ronaldo, Michel Platini.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continue to push each other
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have sustained their collective excellence for more than a decade and a half and are still going strong. The Portuguese is ready to roll back the years at Old Trafford, while the Argentinean is writing a new chapter of his career at the Parc des Princes.
Both stalwarts continue to push each other and show no signs of slowing down.
