Park Ji-sung vs Lilian Thuram: Stats Compared
Midfielder, South Korea (born 1981, retired 2014) · Centre-Back / Right-Back, France (born 1972, retired 2008)
Park Ji-sung and Lilian Thuram represent two answers to the same question: how do you define a great? It is in how they played, rather than what they won, that the comparison gets interesting. Park Ji-sung finishes with 60 career goals from 550 games — a 0.11 strike rate — against Lilian Thuram's 14 from 681 at 0.02 per match. Assists were not reliably tracked for much of their careers, which makes the playmaking comparison an imperfect one; where records exist, Park Ji-sung is credited with 60 and Lilian Thuram with 0. The honours ledger favours Park Ji-sung with 5 major trophies (4× Premier League (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)) against Lilian Thuram's 8 (1× FIFA World Cup (1998)). Stylistically Park Ji-sung was intelligent where Lilian Thuram was anticipatory — two vocabularies of the same sport. Club journeys add another layer, with Park Ji-sung reaching his representative peak around 2008 across Kyoto Purple Sanga, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Queens Park Rangers and Lilian Thuram doing so around 1998 with Monaco, Parma, Juventus, Barcelona. Picking between them says as much about the picker as the players.
184 words · comparison angle: style
Player profiles
The first Asian player to win the Champions League and reach a World Cup semi-final, Park was renowned for his tireless work rate and big-game performances for Manchester United.
“A relentless, selfless box-to-box midfielder whose stamina and tactical discipline made him invaluable in the biggest matches.”
French defender who played a record 142 times for France; scorer of two goals in the 1998 World Cup semifinal.
“A robust, intelligent defender equally adept at right-back and centre-back, with surprising scoring instincts in big games.”
Head-to-head stats
Career goals by season
Representative career seasons — goals per season for each player across their documented clubs.
Attribute radar
Attribute ratings are peak-era, 0–100. Different positions naturally skew the profile.
Attribute comparison
Trophy breakdown
- 4× Premier League (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
- 1× UEFA Champions League (2008)
- 1× FIFA World Cup (1998)
- 1× UEFA European Championship (2000)
- 1× FIFA Confederations Cup (2003)
- 1× UEFA Cup (1999)
- 2× Serie A (2002, 2003)
- 2× Supercoppa Italiana (2002, 2003)
Trophy distribution
Career milestones
- 2000 Professional debut for Kyoto Purple Sanga
- 2007 Won Premier League with Manchester United
- 2008 Won UEFA Champions League with Manchester United
- 2008 Reached the peak of his powers at Manchester United
- 2014 Retired after a final spell at Queens Park Rangers
- Finished his career with 60 goals in 550 appearances and 5 major honours. Finished his career with 60 goals in 550 appearances and 5 major honours.
- 1991 Monaco debut
- 1996 Joined Parma
- 1998 World Cup winner, scored twice in the semi-final against Croatia
- 2000 Euro winner with France
- 2001 Joined Juventus for a world-record defender fee
- 2006 Signed for Barcelona
- 2008 Retired after Euro 2008
The verdict
On balance Lilian Thuram edges the comparison. The margin is a decisive margin, decided mostly by a weightier trophy cabinet.
Lilian Thuram edges it (a decisive margin)
