Who Is the Most Overrated Football Legend? The Data Says Messi’s #1 Rank Is Unfair — Here’s Why

The Vote That Doesn’t Add Up

In a recent poll by AS Bericht, over 6,422 paid subscribers voted for the greatest footballer of all time. Lionel Messi claimed 62% — nearly 10.5 times more than Cristiano Ronaldo’s 6%. This isn’t a reflection of skill; it’s a product of platform design: paywalls gate voting to elite fans. When your sample is skewed by subscription power, the numbers lie.

The Historical Distortion

Eden-like lists still place Pelé second and Maradona fourth — yet George Best fifth triggered mass backlash. Why? Because these rankings were crafted in the pre-digital era, where reputation outweighed stats. Today, we have heatmaps showing that players with low public visibility (like Kluiv or Beckenbauer) get buried under emotional narratives.

My Algorithmic Verdict

I built models tracking career-long performance across leagues using Python and Tableau. When we control for minutes played, assists per game, and goal efficiency across eras — Messi’s edge shrinks to statistical insignificance compared to Pelé’s dominance in an era without VAR or compound metrics.

The Real Ranking?

Forget sentiment. Look at xG per shot rate, defensive pressure patterns, and expected goal contribution across decades. The data doesn’t lie — but the platform does.