text: pele or maradona who was the greatest?!?!?!?!?!?   this question will never have a definite answer, it falls to personal preference... there have been many great players, all of which were amazing in their own right, however it is simply impossible to determine who was the "best ever" due to the obvious difficulties involved with comparing players from different eras, and also the fact that many great players were so good because of unique individual attributes. for example, all the goals pele scored may make him the best goal-scorer / finisher of all time, whereas maradona's ability to beat 6 or 7 players on one of his mazy dribbles may make him the best dribbler of all time. some may also be better tacklers, passers, headers, goalkeepers etc. however, just as an aside, with all the dozens of names being banded about......surprising not to heard a shout out for george best? personally i think he was amazingly talented and should be up there on anyone's shortlist!!..i saw many videos for george best and he was amazing...just like pele and maradona for your question however i prefer pele because his character is way better than maradona's