Why they rank here
The strongest peak-over-career case in sport. At Mexico 1986 Maradona produced the most dominant individual World Cup on record — 5 goals and 5 assists, direct involvement in 10 of Argentina's 14 goals — including the Hand of God and the Goal of the Century within four minutes of the England quarterfinal. Then he did the club version: Napoli, never champions in their history, won their only two Scudetti (1987, 1990) and the 1989 UEFA Cup with Maradona as the entire creative apparatus, in the strongest league era Italy ever staged, against the defences of Sacchi's Milan and the Milan-Inter-Juve axis. Twice the world's record transfer — to Barcelona in 1982 and Napoli in 1984 — he finished with around 350 career goals, a modest total that misses the point: no player has ever lifted mediocre teams so far above their level. The self-destruction that followed shortens the résumé but sharpens the legend; judged on best-version-of-a-footballer, many still place him first.
Career profile
Each bar shows how this athlete compares with the strongest in our all-time list for that metric.