Who is better, Cruyff or van der Sar?
Johan Cruyff leads with a GOAT score of 92.9 against 90.8 for Edwin van der Sar — a gap of 2.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Cruyff vs van der Sar
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Johan Cruyff above Edwin van der Sar: 92.9 vs 90.8. Johan Cruyff leads on Dominance, Peak, Honours. Edwin van der Sar leads on Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
CruyffWinner
92.9Cruyff wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics
van der Sar
90.8van der Sar wins: Longevity
Candidates
Locked to FootballShareable URL · /compare/cruyff-vs-edwin-van-der-sar
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇳🇱 Johan Cruyff
92.9
Cruyff leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Johan Cruyff
2. Edwin van der Sar
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 21 · Form index per season
1. 🇳🇱 Edwin van der Sar9 goals
1 season by age 21 · 9 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Cruyff — 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 | CruyffRetired | van der SarRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Career goals | 401 | — |
| Ballon d'Or | 3 | — |
| European Cups | 3 | — |
| League titles | 9 | — |
| International caps | 48 | — |
| International goals | 33 | — |
| League appearances | — | 606 |
| Champions League titles | — | 2 |
| Netherlands caps | — | 130 |
| Premier League titles | — | 4 |
| Eredivisie titles | — | 4 |
| Dominance w25% | 94 | 90 |
| Peak w20% | 95 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 90 | 92 |
| Honours w20% | 93 | 90 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Cruyff92.9
van der Sar90.8
FAQ
Where does van der Sar beat Cruyff?
van der Sar scores higher on longevity. Cruyff leads on peak, dominance, honours, statistics.
How is the Cruyff vs van der Sar score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Cruyff: 92.9, van der Sar: 90.8.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Cruyff vs van der Sar. 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.