Who is better, Illgner or Van Nistelrooy?
Bodo Illgner leads with a GOAT score of 81.3 against 81.2 for Ruud van Nistelrooy — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Illgner vs Van Nistelrooy
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
IllgnerWinner
81.3Illgner wins: Honours
Van Nistelrooy
81.2Van Nistelrooy wins: Dominance, Longevity, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to FootballShareable URL · /compare/bodo-illgner-vs-ruud-van-nistelrooy
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇩🇪 Bodo Illgner
81.3
Illgner leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Bodo Illgner
2. Ruud van Nistelrooy
Category breakdown
Season form · Goals per season
Career timeline · Goals per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 21 · Goals per season
1. 🇩🇪 Bodo Illgner52 goals
3 seasons by age 21 · 17.3 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Van Nistelrooy — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 21, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | IllgnerRetired | Van NistelrooyRetired |
|---|---|---|
| World Cup titles | 1 | — |
| Champions League | 2 | — |
| La Liga titles | 2 | — |
| Germany caps | 54 | — |
| GK of the Year | 4 | — |
| Career club goals | — | 350 |
| Premier League Golden Boots | — | 1 |
| Champions League top scorer awards | — | 3 |
| League titles | — | 4 |
| Champions League goals | — | 56 |
| Dominance w25% | 78 | 80 |
| Peak w20% | 86 | 86 |
| Longevity w20% | 75 | 78 |
| Honours w20% | 88 | 76 |
| Statistics w15% | 80 | 88 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Illgner81.3
Van Nistelrooy81.2
The people
Illgner
Van Nistelrooy
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Where does Van Nistelrooy beat Illgner?
Van Nistelrooy scores higher on dominance, statistics, longevity. Illgner leads on honours.
How is the Illgner vs Van Nistelrooy score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Illgner: 81.3, Van Nistelrooy: 81.2.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Illgner vs Van Nistelrooy. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.