This Ajax all-time XI is a work of art, with some of the greatest-ever players not making the team!
Named after a Greek mythological hero, Ajax are one of the greatest footballing institutions in the world.
The Amsterdam club has birthed some of the most iconic footballers in the history of our beautiful game.
Talk about Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp and so many more, Ajax has to date continued to live up to their tradition with some great players graduating through their academy.
There are so many players to choose an Ajax dream team from, but we've handpicked the best of the best.
Let's take a look!
Getty ImagesGK: Edwin van der Sar
With over 200 appearances for Ajax in a nine-year spell, Edwin van der Sar leads this dream team majorly due to him being part of that famous squad which won the Champions League in 1995.
Van der Sar also won the best European goalkeeper award that year.
The flying Dutchman won 14 trophies with Ajax between 1990 and 1999 before moving to Juventus, Fulham and later Manchester United, where he won another Champions League.
Two other Ajax goalkeepers deserve to be mentioned here. First is Piet Schrijvers. The shot-stopper played 269 games for the club and even scored a goal for them. He spent nine years at the club, winning five Eredivisie titles and two KNVB Cups.
The second goalkeeper is Maarten Stekelenburg. The 2010 World Cup runner-up with the Netherlands graduated from Ajax's academy before going on to make 191 appearances for the club between 2002 and 2011. He won four Eredivisie titles and four KNVB Cups in his time there.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesRB: Wim Suurbier
Considered one of the greatest right-backs of all time, Wim Suurbier was part of Ajax's golden generation of the early 1970's.
He spent 13 seasons at the club, making 392 appearances and played a key part in Ajax's 'total football' team of the 70s which lifted the European Cup three times in a row between 1971 and 1973.
Suurbier won seven league titles among other trophies in his 392 appearances for Ajax before joining Schalke in 1977.
Velibor Vasovic competes with Suurbier for this spot. He joined Ajax after losing the 1966 European Cup final with Partizan Belgrade, but made amends in 1971 as he led Ajax to European Cup glory as captain (the first foreign captain in Ajax history) after a 2–0 victory over Panathinaikos. Vasovic won three Eredivisie titles, three KNVB Cups and a European Cup at Ajax.
GettyCB: Frank Rijkaard
Amsterdam-born Frank Rijkaard lived every local boy's dream when he started his senior career with Ajax in 1980.
He stayed there for seven years in his first stint, making 205 appearances and also scoring 47 goals. After stints at Sporting and AC Milan, he returned to Ajax in 1993 for two years, leading them to a famous Champions League win in the 1994-95 season.
Rijkaard won 12 trophies at Ajax including five Eredivisie titles and the 1986-87 European Cup Winners' Cup.
Two other Dutchmen are worth mentioning here with the first being Barry Hulshoff. The defender made 283 appearances for Ajax, winning three back-to-back European Cups with that famous team of the 70s.
Secondly, Daley Blind, who had two separate spells at Ajax. He started his career at the club in 2008 and made 102 appearances before joining Manchester United in 2014. In 2018, he returned to Ajax, making another 124 appearances before moving to Bayern Munich in January 2023. At Ajax, Blind won seven league titles, two KNVB Cups and two Johan Cruyff shields.
GettyCB: Frank de Boer
A vital part of Ajax's 1995 Champions League winning squad, Frank de Boer graduated from the club's academy to go on to make 328 appearances for the club between 1988 and 1999.
De Boer won five Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, three Super Cups, one Super Cup, one Uefa Cup, one Champions League, and one Intercontinental Cup at Ajax.
A unique fact about Frank is that he has a twin brother named Ronald, with whom he was teammates at Ajax, Barcelona, Rangers, Al-Rayyan, Al-Shamal and the Netherlands national team.