Lionel Messi finally lifted the World Cup trophy on Sunday as Argentina beat France in a pulsating final, cementing his spot as the greatest footballer of all time. At least, in some minds.
GOATs of every sport will forever be debated, but we thought we would have a crack at listing the greatest athletes in every major sport we cover at The Sportsman.
Football: Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo. Diego Maradona. Pele. The usual four names mentioned when discussing football’s greatest player. For us, there’s only one true GOAT.
Messi was our pick before the World Cup, but his record-breaking route to glory, as he became the first player in history to score in every round from the groups and last 16 to the final, confirmed our choice.
He’s an absolute joy to watch, makes the sport look effortlessly easy and his humble personality puts him head and shoulders above the likes of Ronaldo and Pele.
Tennis: Roger Federer
This is the first selection which will probably ruffle a few feathers. Yes, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal both have more Grand Slam titles than Roger Federer, but the Swiss supremo still edges it for us.
Twenty Grand Slams and six Tour Finals titles, playing the most aesthetically-pleasing tennis you could wish to see, is remarkable. He rarely broke a sweat either.
If going purely off stats and titles, Djokovic is the king, but in the GOAT debate you need to consider everything: style, popularity, quality - and Federer is top in all of those. He set the standard in the modern game.
Golf: Tiger Woods
Jack Nicklaus still holds the record for most golf Major titles with 18, but few will argue with Tiger Woods being named the sport’s GOAT.
Winning 15 himself, Woods shot to stardom early on in his career and dazzled the world with his raw ability, blowing the field away in most major tournaments in the early 2000s.
The reception he received on his return to St Andrews this year - which brought him to tears - shows he is, and will probably always be, golf’s greatest ever player to most fans.
Cricket: Don Bradman
Cricket is an extremely hard sport to pick a single player from. Comparing batters and bowlers is near impossible, even before considering the various formats of the game. Having said that, there’s one man whose numbers are absolutely staggering.
Don Bradman’s Test batting average of 99.94 is a whopping 38 higher than the next man on the list.
He hit 29 centuries in 52 matches, notching 6,996 runs, with a highest score of 334. No one will ever top his Test average and, for that reason, he’s our cricket GOAT.
Basketball: Michael Jordan
Surely no one can argue with this. After the hit Netflix show 'The Last Dance' gave us an insight into that incredible Chicago Bulls side, spearheaded by Jordan himself, this is an easy one.
A six-time NBA champion, five-time MVP and 14-time All-Star, Jordan also won gold at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics with Team USA.
His perfect record in finals puts him head and shoulders above the rest, as well as his insatiable desire to win at all costs.
American Football: Tom Brady
Another easy one to call. Tom Brady left the New England Patriots after years of NFL domination to test himself with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and won the Super Bowl again.
He changed the face of the sport’s history with his stats, has won seven Super Bowl rings and has been named the NFL’s MVP on five different occasions.
No team is safe when Brady is chasing a deficit in the fourth quarter. The fact he’s still playing to such a high level at 45 years old is also staggering.
Boxing: Muhammad Ali
Ali had an incredible political and cultural impact on the world during his career in the ring, which helps elevate him above others mentioned in the GOAT debate.
He was fast, powerful and hugely charismatic. He recorded 56 wins, 37 by knockout, losing five bouts. It’s not the best record on paper, but the quality of opponents and the manner in which he dominated the sport during his prime - with his personality as well as his power - put him right up there as boxing’s finest.
Rugby League: Mal Meninga
Mal Meninga had a magnificent 17-year career at the very top of rugby league. He is the only player to tour four times with Australia, and also the only one to ever captain them twice on separate tours.
He played 517 first-grade games, scored 291 tries and 3,255 points. He broke numerous records during his playing days and retired with the most appearances in the history of the Kangaroos, the greatest side in the sport.
MMA: Jon Jones
Many men have entered the Octagon, become a star and claimed their spot in UFC history. But no one has ever done it like Jon Jones. His 26 wins and a single DQ loss due to an illegal elbow against Matt Hamill in 2009 set him apart.
He’s not a boring entertainer, he’s box office whenever his fights get announced. Despite his mishaps with performance-enhancing drugs, his two fights against Daniel Cormier are as tantalising as Shakespeare.
Darts: Phil Taylor
We don’t always like to go off stats and titles to pick a sporting GOAT, but you have to with Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor.
He won the World Darts Championship 16 times, 11 more than the next most successful player. Ask anyone with any knowledge of darts who the greatest is and they’ll pick Phil. No questions here.
Snooker: Ronnie O’Sullivan
We’ll let Mark Selby answer this one - he spoke to us this week.
“I suppose for anyone else to be even in the conversation as the GOAT in snooker you’d have to break all of Ronnie’s records. So that means seven or eight world titles at least, the debate until now has been between Ronnie and Stephen Hendry, though most would now say O’Sullivan.
“It is Ronnie for me. And look, even if I won 10 world titles I am not one for saying ‘It’s me’. That’s for others. But while I am still playing, I’ll be trying to win eight."
Formula One: Lewis Hamilton
And finally, a very tough one.
It’s between Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher for us, and we're going for the Brit.
They’ve won the same number of F1 titles, but Lewis won his first at a younger age than the German and his last at an older age, meaning his spread of success came across a longer era.
Hamilton also has the most podium finishes, and the most race wins.
