Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 89
- Longevity
- 96
- Honours
- 88
- Statistics
- 86
Career timeline · Goals per season
| Season | Goals per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 10 | |
| 1997 | 12 | |
| 1998 | 14 | |
| 1999 | 15 | |
| 2000 | 16 | |
| 2001 | 17 | |
| 2002 | 18 | |
| 2003 | 21 | |
| 2004 | 20 | |
| 2005 | 19 | |
| 2006 | 17 | |
| 2007 | 18 | |
| 2008 | 16 | |
| 2009 | 17 | |
| 2010 | 19 | |
| 2011 | 21 | |
| 2012 | 20 | |
| 2013 | 18 | |
| 2014 | 15 | |
| 2015 | 12 | |
| 2016 | 10 | |
| 2017 | 8 |
Data sources
- Serie A
- UEFA
- Transfermarkt
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Gianluigi Buffon ranks #11 in Football
Gianluigi Buffon ranks 11th among Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 35th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 89.0 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 89, Longevity 96, Honours 88, Statistics 86. Those categories are normalised against the full Football reference universe of 875 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1995–2023 with 22 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2003, which sets the Peak component at 89. Longevity is the defining strength of the profile at 96 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes world cups 1, serie a titles 10, italy caps 176, clean sheets 500.
Immediately ahead sits Ronaldo Nazário on 92.0, a gap of 3.0 points. Directly behind is Zinedine Zidane on 90.6. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Gianluigi Buffon GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Buffon stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Football cohort.
- Peak89/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2003. Scored 89/100.
- Longevity96/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 28 years of competition and 22 recorded seasons. Scored 96/100.
- Honours88/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 88/100.
- Statistics86/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 86/100.
Top Buffon comparisons
Gianluigi Buffon — frequently asked
- Is Gianluigi Buffon the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Gianluigi Buffon ranks 11th in Football with a GOAT Score of 89.0, behind Cristiano Ronaldo on 95.5.
- What is Gianluigi Buffon's GOAT Score?
- 89.0 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 89 (20%), Longevity 96 (20%), Honours 88 (20%), Statistics 86 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Gianluigi Buffon rank all time?
- 35th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 11th within Football.
- Gianluigi Buffon vs Ronaldo Nazário: who ranks higher?
- Ronaldo Nazário, on 92.0 against Gianluigi Buffon's 89.0 — a margin of 3.0 points.