Who is better, van Dijk or Charles?
Virgil van Dijk leads with a GOAT score of 85.6 against 85.6 for John Charles — a gap of 0.0 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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van Dijk vs Charles
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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
van DijkWinner
85.6van Dijk wins: Peak, Longevity
Charles
85.6Charles wins: Dominance, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to FootballShareable URL · /compare/virgil-van-dijk-vs-john-charles
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇳🇱 Virgil van Dijk
85.6
van Dijk leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Virgil van Dijk
2. John Charles
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. 🇳🇱 Virgil van Dijk5 goals
2 seasons by age 21 · 2.5 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
2. 🏴 John Charles4 goals
4 seasons by age 21 · 1 per season
Charles is -20.0% behind van Dijk'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 DijkActive | CharlesRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Career league goals | 41 | — |
| Netherlands caps | 96 | — |
| Champions League titles | 1 | — |
| Premier League titles | 1 | — |
| Scottish Premiership titles | 2 | — |
| Serie A titles | — | 3 |
| Coppa Italia titles | — | 2 |
| Capocannoniere titles | — | 1 |
| Wales caps | — | 38 |
| Serie A goals | — | 105 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 88 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 85 | 82 |
| Honours w20% | 80 | 80 |
| Statistics w15% | 82 | 85 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
van Dijk85.6
Charles85.6
FAQ
Where does Charles beat van Dijk?
Charles scores higher on dominance, statistics. van Dijk leads on peak, longevity.
How is the van Dijk vs Charles score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. van Dijk: 85.6, Charles: 85.6.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for van Dijk vs Charles. 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.