Is Messi football’s GOAT, better than Pele, Maradona?

Lionel Messi, undoubtedly, is among the greats of football. Thirty-seven club trophies, seven Ballon D'Or awards and six European Golden Boots, a Copa America title and an Olympic gold medal were already testimony to that before the World Cup 2022 final match between Argentina and France.Also listen: History & Football: How World Cup Connects US & LiberiaBut is Messi THE G.O.A.T? Is he the best to ever weave magic on the football field? Two senior Times of India journalists and ardent football fans, Avijit Ghosh and Saikat Dasgupta, try to settle the argument, once and for all.Arguments for MessiMessi isn't defined just by statistics, it's the soul he brings to football, an artist in a game of tacticians, an irresistible force of nature who can blow away any master plan to contain him in seconds.If he lifts the World Cup in Qatar on Sunday, it seals his status among the game's greatest phenomena and launches Messi into an orbit of his own. Beyond any footballer in the current generation comes close. Even Cristiano Ronaldo. Arguments for Pele, MaradonaNobody can ever dispute that watching Messi in flow is one of the most rapturous sights in any sport. But consider the cases of Pele and Diego Maradona, both universally considered as Messi’s prime competitors for the coveted title.Pele’s achievements for his club Santos are legendary. As per the Guinness Book of world Records, Pele scored 1,279 goals in a career spanning 21 years. Only goalkeepers and the rare central defender last so long. Messi made his international debut at the age of 18. At 17, Pele had already lifted the World Cup scoring six goals, including a hat-trick in the semis and a brace in the final. Brazil, with Pele in action, won the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970.A vital parameter of judging a player’s greatness is how influential he individually is in altering a team’s fortunes. Before Maradona arrived to play for the southern Italy club, Napoli had never ever won the Italian league. Maradona piloted it twice to triumph. It never happened again after he left. This is the closest a team game can be reduced to an individual sport. Maradona again played the ringmaster in Argentina’s 1986 World Cup triumph.Audio production: Basant Singhal