Diego Maradona vs Gianluigi Buffon: Stats Compared
Forward / Playmaker, Argentina (born 1960, retired 1997) · Goalkeeper, Italy (born 1978, retired 2023)
There is something timeless about weighing Diego Maradona against Gianluigi Buffon. Strip away the highlights and the medal count tells its own story for each man. The raw numbers read 293 goals in 582 outings for Diego Maradona (0.50/game), versus 1 in 1147 for Gianluigi Buffon (0.00/game). Reliable assist tallies simply do not exist for large stretches of their careers, leaving creativity to the eye rather than the spreadsheet. The honours ledger favours Diego Maradona with 6 major trophies (1× FIFA World Cup (1986)) against Gianluigi Buffon's 15 (1× FIFA World Cup (2006)). Diego Maradona built his medal haul through years of predatory consistency, while Gianluigi Buffon won his with authoritative bursts of brilliance. Their routes to the top were distinct: Diego Maradona built his reputation across Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, Newell's Old Boys, peaking around 1986, while Gianluigi Buffon reached his defining level around 2006 after spells with Parma, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Parma. Few pairings invite such entrenched disagreement, and fewer still deserve it this much.
170 words · comparison angle: trophies
Player profiles
Argentine legend who almost single-handedly led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup and transformed Napoli into Italian and European contenders.
“A low-centre-of-gravity left-footed genius whose dribbling and playmaking carried teams single-handedly.”
Italian goalkeeper and the most capped Italian player of all time; 2006 World Cup winner and ten-time Serie A champion.
“An authoritative, athletic keeper whose longevity made him the most-capped goalkeeper in history.”
Head-to-head stats
Career goals by season
Representative career seasons — goals per season for each player across their documented clubs.
Attribute radar
Attribute ratings are peak-era, 0–100. Different positions naturally skew the profile.
Attribute comparison
Trophy breakdown
- 1× FIFA World Cup (1986)
- 1× UEFA Cup (1989)
- 2× Serie A (1987, 1990)
- 1× Copa Italia (1987)
- 1× Argentine Primera División (1981)
- 1× FIFA World Cup (2006)
- 10× Serie A
- 2× Coppa Italia
- 1× UEFA Cup (1999)
- 1× Ligue 1 (2019)
Trophy distribution
Career milestones
- 1976 Argentinos Juniors debut ten days before his 16th birthday
- 1981 Joined Boca Juniors and won the Argentine league
- 1982 World-record transfer to Barcelona
- 1984 Signed for Napoli for another world-record fee
- 1987 Led Napoli to their first ever Serie A title
- 1990 Captained Argentina to a second consecutive World Cup final
- 1997 Played his final professional matches at Boca Juniors
- 1995 Parma debut
- 2001 World-record keeper transfer to Juventus
- 2003 Lost the Champions League final on penalties
- 2006 World Cup winner with Italy
- 2018 Joined Paris Saint-Germain
- 2019 Returned to Juventus
- 2023 Scored a career goal for Parma in Serie B
The verdict
Reasonable people will disagree, but Diego Maradona wins out by a narrow margin on the weight of a sharper goalscoring record.
Diego Maradona edges it (a narrow margin)
