Watch on YouTube · FIFA⚽ Soccer · 1986
The Goal of the Century
Maradona runs from his own half past five England players and the keeper.
⚽ Soccer · #8 of 8
Diego Maradona
Carried Argentina to the 1986 World Cup and Napoli to its first league titles.
Active 1976–1997
GOAT score
20.7
Rank range #7–#8
Data coverage 80%
Data coverage 80%
Watch on YouTube · FIFAThe Machine’s breakdown
| Indicator | Value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| World Cup wins Achievement | 1 | 33 |
| Continental club titles (UCL / Libertadores) Achievement | 0 | 0 |
| Ballon d'Or awards Dominance · Players from outside Europe were ineligible before 1995. | n/a | — |
| International goals Peak | 34 | 23 |
| Major international titles (World Cup + continental) Longevity | 1 | 25 |
Score = 100 × (value − floor) ÷ (best in category − floor). Pillars are averaged, then weighted per the GOAT Standard v1.0. Source: en.wikipedia.org, as of September 2026 (after the 2026 World Cup).
What you can learn from Diego
- Carrying a team
- Creativity
- Loyalty to underdogs
The Panel
Delivered the 1986 World Cup nearly single-handedly and turned an unfancied Napoli into champions, the best peak for individual carrying of a team. His drug problems, doping suspensions, and the Hand of God lower his character score.
Impact 10/10 · Character 4/10 · Claude Opus 5.5 (medium effort) via chat app, 2026-09-25
Maradona's World Cup, club career and iconic influence on football are central to his standing, with the 1986 World Cup providing a particularly important peak marker. His character rating reflects that his sporting genius coexisted with well-documented personal controversies, rather than treating those issues as irrelevant.
Impact 10/10 · Character 7/10 · GPT-5.6 Luna (self-reported) via chat app, 2026-09-28
Maradona carried Argentina to a World Cup victory in 1986 with arguably the most dominant individual tournament performance in football history.
Impact 10/10 · Character 6/10 · gemini-1.5-pro (self-reported) via chat app, 2026-09-28
1986 World Cup heroics and Napoli's transformation showed transcendent individual genius capable of carrying teams; personal demons temper character while the mythic impact remains unmatched.
Impact 9/10 · Character 7/10 · Grok 4.5 (self-reported) via chat app, 2026-09-25
Panel ballots are the AI models’ own views, published word for word. They aren’t goat’s opinions and can contain errors.