Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and other legends ranked in controversial list with only one named GOAT

A controversial graphic ranking Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and other football legends has sparked outrage on social media.

Messi and Ronaldo have been ranked in a list with only ONE named as the GOAT.

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski, Neymar and Karim Benzema, who are also still active, join Messi and Ronaldo in the controversial list.

Not to mention the likes of Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Gareth Bale, as well as the late Pele and Diego Maradona.

The 17 players that are included in the list are ranked in five different categories, with Messi being hailed as the GOAT.

Ronaldo, Maradona, Pele and Johan Cruyff are ranked as legends.

The World Class category sees Zidane, Ronaldinho, Henry and Luis Suarez enter the list.

Andres Iniesta, Bale, Benzema and Lewandowski make up the iconic players category.

Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Franck Ribery and Salah are listed as great players.

Needless to say, the controversial list sent social media into overdrive as fans made their feelings clear online.

They couldn't believe some of the rankings and fumed at the exclusion of Brazil legend Ronaldo.

One X user wrote: "Suarez has 7 seasons with 22+ goals. Benzema has 12 seasons with 22+ goals. Why is Mr. 0 UCL away goals in 8 years so high up?"

A second exclaimed: "Putting Neymar in the same bracket as Salah is honestly embarrassing."

A third added: "No R9 lol. Lewandowski is Iconic but not Neymar or Zlatan? This graphic sucks."

A fourth said: "Bale is the definition of a moments player. How he gets rated on these lists, let alone this high, is such a testimony to how media and hype driven players can be."

A fifth commented: "Just destroy the last two rows cause no way is Lewandowski over Neymar."

Another weighed in: "Nobody is going to be talking about Lewandowski 20 years from now while Neymar’s imprint on the game will live forever."