An Oxford mathematician created an algorithm that decreed who is the greatest footballer of all time

The Dr. Tom Crawford sought to put an end to a debate as old as football itself: Who is the best player in history?. As time passes, this question becomes more complex to reveal as new figures take over the scene and position themselves above others, according to the opinion of the fans, as subjective as they are different. That’s why this math teacher from the Oxford University he sought to apply logic to settle the discussion.

The Formula Expert created an algorithm that would allow him to determine who is the best footballer of all time, leaving opinion aside and relying solely on statistics. Thus, this specialist, who at the same time is a sensation among students because through his website he launches podcasts, problems and articles that aim to make mathematics entertaining and understandable, claimed to have found a definitive answer.

To make the selection process simple, Tom Crawford put together a list of 13 players, the only ones to win at least two Ballon d’Or. Then, he established seven purely statistical factors: Club titles, national team championships, club goals, national team goals, Ballon d’Or, records and “Z factors”. This last point has to do with some kind of milestone in his career, such as being the top scorer in a tournament.

In the case of titles obtained in their teams, the mathematician also used the UEFA coefficient, which helped him give each trophy a rating. It was prepared with the aim of being able to explain the difficulty of that consecration at that moment in history, so it is not the same to win a League with Real Madrid than a Series A with Napoli. In turn, he gave a higher rating to those who were champions in different countries. In this point, Cristiano Ronaldo he placed first, surpassing Lionel messi already Alfredo Di Stéfano.

Something similar he used to determine the scores in titles with the selections, where the most appreciated tournament was the World Cup, but at the same time it was the FIFA ranking of that time that allowed him to determine what was the difficulty of winning that trophy for that footballer when he belonged to a certain selected team. On the other hand, he added extra points if the player was a scorer, figure or received an award, such as the Golden Boy, in that contest. It is here that the Brazilian Ronaldo Nazario was at the top, ahead of Pele and Diego Maradona.

As for club goals, the Bulgarian Ferenc Puskás won the category by beating Pele already Lionel messi. But in annotations in selections, Cristiano Ronaldo stood out above the rest by having precisely the Guinness Record in this regard. Behind him they were located far away Puskás and Pele.

For the category of Golden Ball, as until 1995 the magazine France Football He only gave it to Europeans, the professor was based on the modification that the French medium made years later when he modified 12 of his previous deliveries to include great stars from other parts of the world who had shone until before that date. In turn, the mathematician took into account the number of votes they obtained by winning it. It was Pelé who was at the top of everything beating Lionel Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo. While the records did not take into account those brands that are reduced to a single team or a selected team, but that belong to a competition or some historical figure, such as that of the Portuguese striker who is the top scorer in the Champions League. It was thus that most of the competitors did not add points and CR7 stayed with the throne, ahead of Pele and Messi.

In the Z factor, which did take into account marks in various competitions, it was Messi who stood out above anyone, leaving Cristiano and Marco Van Basten behind.

In this way, the Top ten was made up:

1-Cristiano Ronaldo

2-Lionel Messi

3- Pele

4- Ferenc Puskas

5-Ronaldo Nazario

6-Marco Van Basten

7-Alfredo Di Stefano

8-Michel Platini

9-Diego Maradona

10-Johan Cruyff

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