The debate over football's greatest player of all time has raged for as long as anyone can remember, but now, finally, it has been solved - by a Mathematician at the University of Oxford.

Public chats, social media spats and hours and hours of punditry have long centred on deciding football's GOAT, with strong cases put forward for the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Pele and Diego Maradona.

There's an argument to be made for each and everyone one of the above, but there can only be one true GOAT.

And top mathematician Dr Tom Crawford of Oxford University has come up with a formula to determine once and for all the greatest men's footballer of all time.

Commissioned by LiveScore, one of the world’s leading real-time sports updates providers, Dr Crawford analysed dozens of history’s most iconic footballers to determine the GOAT.

The in-depth analysis looked at ten of the best players of all time who have won a minimum of two Ballon d’Or awards in their career.

Dr Crawford then assessed these players using seven weighted categories - Club Goals, Club Titles, International Goals, International Titles, Ballon d’Or Awards, Individual Records, and 'Z-factor’ Seasons.

According to Oxford's finest, 'Z factor' seasons signify a campaign where the impact of a player significantly out-performed any other from the previous five seasons.

Having factored in all of those criteria, Dr Crawford was able to determine that new Manchester United signing Cristiano Ronaldo is the undisputed GOAT - eclipsing Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo scored an incredible 100 per cent on the GOAT index, putting him 6 per cent clear of Messi, who swapped Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain earlier this summer.

Both players have produced incredible statistics throughout their careers, with the Argentine scoring 711 goals in 884 appearances and the Portuguese finding the back of the net 748 times in 1026 games.

Brazilian legend Pele is third in LiveScore's index, while Hungarian icon Ferenc Puskas and the original Ronaldo complete the top five.

Remarkably, there is no room in the top eight for Argentina hero Diego Maradona.

He is ninth in the GOAT list, behind Marco van Basten, Alfredo Di Stefano and Michael Platini.

There is no doubt that Maradona was one of the greatest to play the game, but the algorithm took into consideration the sporadic nature of his brilliance across a relatively small number of seasons.

Influential Dutchman Johan Cruyff rounds out the top ten.

Ric Leask, Marketing Director at LiveScore, said: "As football fans we have all grown up mesmerised by the most iconic players of our respective generations.

"However, when it comes to debating the Greatest of all Time, crowning the G.O.A.T. has been a difficult challenge.

"For the first time, we wanted to apply the science of maths to help us solve the eternal question, and it has been fascinating to watch Professor Tom Crawford pour over the numbers on behalf of millions of global fans.

"The G.O.A.T. Index is about far more than a score, for us it helps to settle a debate that has run for generations.

"In May, we backed our man as we unveiled Cristiano Ronaldo as our Official Global Brand Ambassador, and now we know for sure that we have the maths on our side.”

Dr Tom Crawford, Mathematician at the University of Oxford, added: As a massive football fan, I have long debated with my friends who the greatest player of all time is.

"I have loved bringing maths to the masses over the past few years, so being able to showcase how you can use it within the world of football has been a lot of fun.

"Whilst Cristiano Ronaldo has come out on top from my algorithm, it is clear that all the other players’ stats are absolutely incredible, and I am sure the debate will continue!"

OJEEMAH:
Maths & football?? Very ridiculous!

Puskas ahead of Maradona & Ronaldo Del Lima shows mathematical calculation is not applicable in football otherwise FIFA would have been using this same algorithm all these years.

Thank God he said its a statistics used in maths to represent how outstanding a particular event is.

OJEEMAH:
Maths & football?? Very ridiculous!

Puskas ahead of Maradona & Ronaldo Del Lima shows mathematical calculation is not applicable in football otherwise FIFA would have been using this same algorithm all these years.

Thank God he said its a statistics used in maths to represent how outstanding a particular event is.

Toeze:
Professor has not solved anything. He has only added more fuel to the fire, which I'm sure was the original purpose of this anyway.

nelsonebby:
Ridiculous. There's more to football than scoring goals

paulolee:

leave the bias joker because nobody can be 100% in science n he forgets dt leo had more awards, trophies n even 2 years younger than cr7..
the professor still insisted on messaging cr7 ego thinking he would get a slice of bread from him.

OJEEMAH:
Like you right said, its just to massage his ego. In the award category, am sure he added Dubai D'or & Best abi Golden Foot Award to boost Ronaldo's points

ThierryJay:
Lol, this is what is called working to the answer

The very fact that this Pendussor's methodology places Maradona as lesser than Platini (who isn't even greater than Zidane), Puskas and Van Basten already showcases the report as a pile of shitload. Again, how is Zizou and Ronaldinho not in the list of the greatest players of all time?

The Pendussor already get wetin dey hin mind, he con sprinkle some sakamanjematics to whine hin fellow pendumbos, knowing that they rarely think through

How will CR score "hundred hundred" across all seven criteria? Is he in Nursery classes? Haba, oga scientist give room for some parallax and human error na even if dem no teach you

The best indicators of a player's individual brilliance is the World best/Ballon D'or award followed by man of the match awards and trophies. Messi has more Ballon D'ors, and way more MOTM and total trophies than CR. How can CR still then be scored equal or higher than Messi in these same areas to show the buffoonery of this analysis?

I'm not surprised sha. It's obvious this is a "sponsored" exercise like the Dubai D'or. CR is the global brand ambassador for Livescores who commissioned the exercise and so a result that does not project him as their best is unacceptable, hence Baba mathematician had to conform. Imagine giving a Ballon D'or award the same weight as total number of international goals and titles, meaning Ali Daei and Kaka would be considered to be on the same greatness level

ThierryJay:


OJ, It's the Dubai'D'or all over again o. They now had to look for a stooge scientist to give it a credible outlook.

Shit packaged in Gold coverings is still shit o Buhahahaa

OJEEMAH:
Maths & football?? Very ridiculous!

Puskas ahead of Maradona & Ronaldo Del Lima shows mathematical calculation is not applicable in football otherwise FIFA would have been using this same algorithm all these years.

Thank God he said its a statistics used in maths to represent how outstanding a particular event is.

Patrickker:
Stats don't lie. Respect to the GOAT