Who is better, Van Buyten or Papin?
Daniel Van Buyten leads with a GOAT score of 77.8 against 77.8 for Jean-Pierre Papin — a gap of 0.0 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Van Buyten vs Papin
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
Van BuytenWinner
77.8Van Buyten wins: Longevity, Honours
Papin
77.8Papin wins: Peak, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to FootballShareable URL · /compare/daniel-van-buyten-vs-papin
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇧🇪 Daniel Van Buyten
77.8
Van Buyten leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Daniel Van Buyten
2. Jean-Pierre Papin
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. 🇧🇪 Daniel Van Buyten1 goals
1 season by age 21 · 1 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Papin — 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 | Van BuytenRetired | PapinRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Champions League titles | 1 | 1 |
| Bundesliga titles | 4 | — |
| Belgium caps | 85 | — |
| Career league goals | 48 | — |
| Club World Cup titles | 1 | — |
| Ballon d'Or | — | 1 |
| Ligue 1 top scorer | — | 5 |
| Ligue 1 titles | — | 4 |
| Career goals | — | 302 |
| France goals | — | 30 |
| Dominance w25% | 72 | 72 |
| Peak w20% | 78 | 86 |
| Longevity w20% | 80 | 74 |
| Honours w20% | 84 | 76 |
| Statistics w15% | 76 | 84 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Van Buyten77.8
Papin77.8
FAQ
Where does Papin beat Van Buyten?
Papin scores higher on peak, statistics. Van Buyten leads on honours, longevity.
How is the Van Buyten vs Papin score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Van Buyten: 77.8, Papin: 77.8.
What do you think?
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