Bart Verbruggen is discussing his goalkeeping idol, Edwin van der Sar.
“You’re a little kid, you’re Dutch, Edwin van der Sar was the best goalkeeper in the world at the time,” says the Netherlands and Brighton & Hove Albion No 1.
“It might be a bit biased, but he was. It’s normal that you idolise him and you take his game apart, you take things and you ask your father questions: ‘Why does he do this? Why does he do that?’ It’s just somebody I’ve always looked up to.”
Aspiring to reach the heights of Van der Sar sets the bar high. He won the Champions League with Ajax (1995) and Manchester United (2008) among 26 major trophies in a career which included 130 caps for his country and appearances at two World Cups.
“In general, you can never compare eras,” Verbruggen says. “Sometimes you hear the discussion about, for example, in basketball, who was better, Larry Bird or LeBron James? You can’t tell because the games change and evolve.
“When he played the game, the demands on a goalkeeper were very different to what they are today. Not easier or harder — different.
“What I look up to the most with him was how decisive he was for the teams he played for, and how reliable and consistent he was. That’s what I’m trying to do but in my style of play, in my era, for my teams. That will change a bit from how he played the game. But the principle of being important in big moments and being reliable, that is something I strive to do”.
Verbruggen enters the World Cup at 23 as one of the most promising goalkeepers around, an emerging force as a shot-stopper and with the ball at his feet.
Steady improvement since joining Brighton from Anderlecht for £16.3million in 2023 — establishing himself as first choice for club and country — has the drum beats banging about the potential of a move for Verbruggen this summer.
Bart Verbruggen has established himself as Ronald Koeman’s No 1 (Robin van Lonkhuijsen/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
He has kept 17 clean sheets across 74 Premier League games in a row over the past two seasons, playing a significant role in successive eighth-placed finishes under German head coach Fabian Hurzeler. The latter has earned Brighton a place in Europe for the second time next season, when they will compete in the Europa Conference League.
Hurzeler, 33, recently told The Athletic that Verbruggen has become even more professional in his approach since reuniting with compatriot Jelle ten Rouwelaar, who was appointed by Brighton as goalkeeper coach last summer following spells under Ruud van Nistelrooy at Manchester United and Leicester City. Ten Rouwelaar has worked with Verbruggen since the latter was 15 years old at NAC Breda in their homeland, then at Anderlecht.
“I try to always focus on the process,” Verbruggen says during an interview with The Athletic and other media at Brighton’s training centre in Lancing. “I am obsessed with the process and the results are always because of how good your process is. I always look at what I am doing now and how I can make it even better to give me a better chance to succeed and to show my quality.
“I was a young goalie coming to England. You learn a lot. You learn a lot about consistency and to be better every single day with slight adjustments in the way you live your life. That shows on the pitch, and this season I feel as though I have definitely improved, which I think I have done every season in my career. That is the main focus: continue to get better, optimise your process, and then where you end (up) we will see.”
There are numerous examples of Verbruggen’s ability with his feet and hands.
In the European Championships in Germany in 2024, he completed 97.5 per cent of his passes (39 out of 40) in a 0-0 draw for the Netherlands against France in the group stage. That was the highest level of accuracy by a goalkeeper with at least 40 passes in a match since the statistic was first measured in the competition in 1980.
In February 2025, Verbruggen’s long-range pass led to clinical control and finishing by Brighton team-mate Kaoru Mitoma in a 3-0 home victory over Chelsea, which won the Japan winger goal of the season in The Athletic awards and from BBC’s Match of the Day.
Premier League Goal of the Season 2024/25
🥇 Kaoru Mitoma | Brighton 3-0 Chelsea, 14 February 2025#PL | #TAFCAwards25pic.twitter.com/qJhDt73rWv
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) May 20, 2025
There have been mistakes as well. Verbruggen made four errors leading to a goal in the 2025-26 Premier League season, but a penalty save from Igor Thiago to preserve a 2-1 home win against Brentford in November proved crucial in the final reckoning. Without that, Brighton would have lost out to Brentford in reaching Europe. It was a reminder of how important Verbruggen can be to the Netherlands’ hopes.
His first memory of the World Cup was as an eight-year-old watching the 2010 tournament in South Africa. Iker Casillas broke his heart with a key save one-on-one with Arjen Robben during the second half as the Netherlands lost in the final against Spain 1-0.
“All I remember is Robben’s chance against Casillas and then the goal they scored (by Andres Iniesta),” says Verbruggen “But then again, I felt so proud of the team; they beat Brazil (2-1 in the quarter-finals), and how they got through the World Cup was amazing.
“In the moment you’re disappointed, upset. But when you look back, you realise it’s not something that’s so easy to do.”
Verbruggen after his crucial penalty save against Brentford (Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Did the save by Casillas show that a goalkeeper can decide a World Cup?
“I’ve never doubted that because you’ve seen it even last time with (Emiliano) Martinez (of Argentina),” Verbruggen says. “People speak about the penalties, but they shouldn’t forget the save he made against (Randal) Kolo Muani in the last minute (of extra time).
“A goalkeeper is very unlikely to score goals, but he can definitely keep some out. If you do that in the big moments, then people will look at you like you decided it. I don’t really care who decides it, I just want to win the World Cup.”
Argentina’s 4-2 win on penalties in the final in Qatar in 2022 — following a 3-3 draw with France — came 44 years after the Netherlands were beaten 3-1 after extra time in the final by Argentina in Buenos Aires. That defeat in 1978 was preceded by losing 2-1 to host nation Germany in the 1974 final. A World Cup history of near-misses still rankles in Dutch society as Ronald Koeman’s class of 2026 attempt to go one better.
“Everybody looks at Holland as a big football nation,” Verbruggen says. “Historically, we’ve always had very good teams and players. We had (the likes of) Johan Cruyff, Dennis Bergkamp, Van Nistelrooy.
“The World Cup is something missing for the Netherlands. Me and my team-mates have the privilege to try to change that. That’s an exciting task to be given.”