Who is better, van der Sar or Zidane?
Edwin van der Sar leads with a GOAT score of 90.8 against 90.6 for Zinedine Zidane — a gap of 0.2 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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van der Sar vs Zidane
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
van der SarWinner
90.8van der Sar wins: Longevity, Statistics
Zidane
90.6Zidane wins: Peak, Honours
Candidates
Locked to FootballShareable URL · /compare/edwin-van-der-sar-vs-zidane
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇳🇱 Edwin van der Sar
90.8
van der Sar leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Edwin van der Sar
2. Zinedine Zidane
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. 🇳🇱 Edwin van der Sar9 goals
1 season by age 21 · 9 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Zidane — 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 der SarRetired | ZidaneRetired |
|---|---|---|
| League appearances | 606 | — |
| Champions League titles | 2 | 1 |
| Netherlands caps | 130 | — |
| Premier League titles | 4 | — |
| Eredivisie titles | 4 | — |
| Career goals | — | 156 |
| Ballon d'Or | — | 1 |
| World Cups | — | 1 |
| League titles | — | 4 |
| International caps | — | 108 |
| Dominance w25% | 90 | 90 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 94 |
| Longevity w20% | 92 | 88 |
| Honours w20% | 90 | 92 |
| Statistics w15% | 90 | 89 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
van der Sar90.8
Zidane90.6
FAQ
Where does Zidane beat van der Sar?
Zidane scores higher on peak, honours. van der Sar leads on statistics, longevity.
How is the van der Sar vs Zidane score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. van der Sar: 90.8, Zidane: 90.6.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for van der Sar vs Zidane. 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.