Best Strikers of All Time — Ranked by Card
Pelé and Lionel Messi share the top of Vikto’s attacking ratings at 99 — the only two cards in the game at that number. Cristiano Ronaldo is a 98, Ronaldo R9 a 97, and then four players sit level at 96. Below is the full top twelve, why each number is what it is, and which absences will change the list as more pools are added.
The top twelve attackers
| Score | Legend | Pool | Era |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99 | Pelé | Brazil | 1957–1971 |
| 99 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 2004–2021 |
| 98 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 2009–2018 |
| 97 | Ronaldo R9 | Brazil | 1994–2006 |
| 96 | Thierry Henry | Arsenal | 1999–2007 |
| 96 | Kylian Mbappé | PSG | 2017–2024 |
| 96 | Gerd Müller | Germany | 1966–1974 |
| 96 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | Real Madrid | 1953–1964 |
| 95 | Éric Cantona | Man United | 1992–1997 |
| 95 | Johan Cruyff | Barcelona | 1973–1978 |
| 95 | Jean-Pierre Papin | Marseille | 1986–1992 |
| 95 | George Best | Man United | 1963–1974 |
Every player here is Icon tier except Mbappé, whose card is a 96 on production and a Legend on longevity — the one rating in the top eight that will move as a career continues.
How the ratings work
Each score is built from three components, out of 100 total.
Honours, 40 points. Individual awards, club titles and international trophies, weighted so a Ballon d’Or and a World Cup count more than a domestic league.
Impact, 40 points. Goals, assists and games, normalised by position and era — a 1960s striker isn’t punished for playing fewer matches, and a modern one isn’t rewarded for playing 60 a season.
Iconicity, 20 points. How far the name travels outside the club that produced it. This is the component that separates Pelé from contemporaries with comparable numbers.
Icons get a base-score boost on top, plus the larger era and venue multipliers in duels. Icon status is decided by community vote, not by us.
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Why Pelé and Messi tie
Because the components disagree and cancel out. Messi wins the honours column — eight Ballons d’Or against Pelé’s era, which had no equivalent award open to him — and the impact column on raw volume. Pelé takes iconicity outright and holds the trophy nobody else on this list has three of.
Any tie-break between them is a preference dressed as arithmetic, so the ratings leave it as a tie. In a match it resolves the way it should: whichever card’s decade matches the match era wins, and if neither does, the captain armband decides it.
Who is missing
The list is drawn from the pools currently in Vikto — seven clubs and four national teams — so several obvious names have no card yet.
Italy’s absence is the biggest hole: no Milan or Juventus pool means no Van Basten, no Baggio, no Del Piero. The Netherlands would add Van Basten and Bergkamp’s international career. Argentina would add Maradona, Batistuta and Kempes, and Liverpool would add Dalglish, Rush and Gerrard’s club record.
Those pools are on the roadmap, and adding them will push several of the current 95s down the table. The ratings are honest about the set they’re drawn from rather than pretending to be a global census.
Playing the attackers
A Vikto match is one pool and one position, so an attacking match draws six of the twelve forwards in that pool. Choosing Brazil ATT means Pelé and R9 are in the deck; choosing Barcelona ATT means Messi and Cruyff are.
What that does to bidding is specific. In a pool with a 99 in it, the whole match is shaped by whether that card appears early — and since you only need three cards, and the moment you own three the rest of the deck goes to your opponent, buying the best striker is often how you lose. Two 90s and a disciplined budget beat a 99 and two 78s more often than not.
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Frequently asked questions
Who are the best strikers ever?
Pelé and Messi share the top rating at 99, then Cristiano Ronaldo at 98 and Ronaldo R9 at 97. The full twelve are ranked above.
Who is the best striker of all time?
Vikto rates Pelé and Messi level at 99, the highest cards in the game. The system splits them on different components and leaves the tie standing.
Why is Mbappé rated 96?
On PSG production — the club’s all-time top scorer with 256 goals in 308 games. He’s the highest-rated non-Icon attacker, and the rating is the most likely on this list to change.
Where is Maradona?
Argentina isn’t in Vikto yet. When the pool is added, he’s a clear Icon-tier card.
Are these ratings the same in every match?
Base scores are fixed. Final duel scores add era, venue and captain multipliers, so a 95 regularly beats a 98.
Why do some players have two cards?
A legend can appear in both a club and a national pool, with different scores. Henry is a 96 for Arsenal and a 96 for France; Ronaldo R9 is a 97 for Brazil and a 95 for Real Madrid.
More rankings: best midfielders of all time, best defenders of all time, Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo. Every pool on the legends hub.
Think the order is wrong? Play Vikto and settle it →