Like any football fan, there is a debate in soccer as to who is “The Greatest of All Time,” aka the GOAT. There are several candidates. Pele, Diego Maradona, Brazil’s Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi are all legitimate options. However, the debate is now over after Messi won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina. Lionel Messi is officially the GOAT.
Before the 2022 World Cup final, you could separate the GOAT candidates into three categories. There was the national team GOAT, the club team GOAT, and the all-around GOAT.