# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/louis-van-gaal
# Generated: 2026-08-31T20:47:18.749Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/louis-van-gaal"
name: "Louis van Gaal"
slug: "louis-van-gaal"
description: "He's called the \"Iron Tulip\" — a Dutch manager who collected 20 major trophies across five leagues and three national team stints, then retired twice, came back once, and now sits as an advisor at Ajax where it all began."
tagline: "Dutch association football manager (born 1951)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Louis_van_Gaal_2014.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Netherlands"
  isoCode: "NL"
category:
  name: "Footballers"
  slug: "footballers"
profileType:
  name: "Football / Soccer Player"
  slug: "footballer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q937857"
birthDate: "1951-08-08"
livingStatus: "LIVING"
scores:
  popularity:           64.49
  momentum:             2.1125
  historical:           27.217464
  currentAttention:     6.500000000000001
  sourceConfidence:     70
  profileCompleteness:  80
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  109
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Athletes"
    slug: "athletes"
  - name: "Football / Soccer Player"
    slug: "football-soccer-player"
  - name: "Soccer"
    slug: "soccer"
  - name: "Football"
    slug: "football"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2055422/"
    handle:    "nm2055422"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "http://www.louisvangaal.nl/"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q207431"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Louis%20van%20Gaal"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%B3_%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%84"
    title: "لويس فان خال"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A6%DB%8C_%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%84"
    title: "لوئی فان خال"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lui_van_Qaal"
    title: "Lui van Qaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bar.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D1%83%D0%B8%D1%81_%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%93%D0%B0%D0%B0%D0%BB"
    title: "Луис ван Гаал"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%B8_%E0%A6%AB%E0%A6%A8_%E0%A6%96%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2"
    title: "লুইস ফন খাল"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9B%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%AF%CF%82_%CF%86%CE%B1%CE%BD_%CE%A7%CE%AC%CE%B1%CE%BB"
    title: "Λουίς φαν Χάαλ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A6%DB%8C_%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%84"
    title: "لوئی فان خال"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ha.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://nl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ru.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D1%83%D0%B8_%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%93%D0%B0%D0%BB"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Gaal"
    title: "Louis van Gaal"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Van Gaal played as a midfielder and taught physical education at high schools while semi-pro, then worked his way up through Ajax's coaching ranks until he took the top job in 1991. Over the next six years he won three Eredivisie titles, the UEFA Cup, and the Champions League. He moved to Barcelona in 1997, won two leagues and a Copa del Rey, but clashed with the board and left. A failed World Cup qualifying campaign with the Netherlands in 2002 was followed by another Barcelona stint, then a return to AZ, where he delivered the club's second-ever Eredivisie title. At Bayern Munich he won the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal, and reached a Champions League final. He led the Netherlands to third place at the 2014 World Cup, then took Manchester United to an FA Cup in 2016 before being sacked days later. He announced retirement in 2019, reversed it in 2021 for a third Netherlands stint, and stepped down for good after the 2022 World Cup.