Who is better, van der Vaart or Messi?
Lionel Messi leads with a GOAT score of 97.0 against 79.8 for Rafael van der Vaart — a gap of 17.2 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
AthletesTeams
van der Vaart vs Messi
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
MessiWinner
97.0Messi wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
van der Vaart
79.8van der Vaart wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to FootballShareable URL · /compare/rafael-van-der-vaart-vs-messi
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi
97.0
Messi leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Lionel Messi
2. Rafael van der Vaart
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. 🇦🇷 Lionel Messi79 goals
4 seasons by age 21 · 19.8 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
2. 🇳🇱 Rafael van der Vaart46 goals
5 seasons by age 21 · 9.2 per season
van der Vaart is -41.8% behind Messi's pace at age 21
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 VaartRetired | MessiActive · Inter Miami CF |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands caps | 109 | — |
| Netherlands goals | 25 | — |
| Eredivisie titles | 2 | — |
| Golden Boy awards | 1 | — |
| Career league goals | 135 | — |
| Career goals | — | 879 |
| Career assists | — | 383 |
| Ballon d'Or | — | 8 |
| World Cups | — | 1 |
| Champions League titles | — | 4 |
| League titles | — | 12 |
| Goals per 90 | — | 0.79 |
| Dominance w25% | 80 | 98 |
| Peak w20% | 86 | 99 |
| Longevity w20% | 75 | 92 |
| Honours w20% | 78 | 97 |
| Statistics w15% | 80 | 99 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Messi97.0
van der Vaart79.8
FAQ
Where does van der Vaart beat Messi?
van der Vaart does not lead any of the five categories; Messi is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the van der Vaart vs Messi score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. van der Vaart: 79.8, Messi: 97.0.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for van der Vaart vs Messi. 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.