The goalkeeper is a very special and important position in football. A simple mistake can cost their team dearly and change the outcome of the match. They are the key factor for the bettors’ calculations and even for the best online bookmakers. Besides good physical condition and good reflexes, a goalkeeper must have a high concentration.
The best goalkeepers in football history have all been legends for their clubs and countries. As the final barrier in front of the goal, they have rescued their teams many times. Here are our top 10 best goalkeepers of all time.
10. Fabien Barthez
Fabien Barthez is considered by many fans and experts as the greatest French goalkeeper ever. He started his career at Olympique de Marseille and won the Champions League in 1993. He also won the French League with Monaco and the English League with Manchester United. He was a star for the French national team as well.
He was the first-choice goalkeeper for France in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. He often saved his team with his stops and his sometimes spectacular aerial interventions.
9. Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar has been named the best goalkeeper in Europe four times and has had a remarkable career at the club level. He began his career with Ajax in Amsterdam, where he won many domestic titles, as well as a Champions League in 1995.
After playing for Juventus and Fulham, he won another Champions League title and 4 Premier League titles with Manchester United. He did not win any trophies with the Netherlands despite 130 appearances.
8. Sepp Maier
The legendary Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper, Sepp Maier, has won all the major domestic and international trophies. He played for Bayern for 14 years, winning 4 league titles, 4 German cups, and 3 consecutive Champions League titles between 1974 and 1976.
As part of the national team, he first won the Euro in 1972, then lifted the World Cup on home soil in Germany in 1974. During the tournament, Sepp Maier was one of the key players for his team. Maier is a symbol of Bayern’s and Germany’s dominance in the mid-1970s. He is also among the greatest goalkeepers ever.
7. Iker Casillas
Iker Casillas has a remarkable record of achievements both at club and international level. He came from the Real Madrid academy and soon became a regular player, winning 5 Spanish league titles, 2 King’s Cups, and 3 Champions League titles with the White House. Casillas often made the best bookies to bet in India happy or very unhappy (depending on the odds for his team).
Casillas is also the most capped player on the Spanish national team, with 167 matches. He is one of the players who won the Euro 2008, the World Cup 2010, and the Euro 2012. His stops were often crucial and helped Spain to keep clean sheets in many games.
6. Peter Schmeichel
One of the greatest goalkeepers of the 90s, Peter Schmeichel was revealed to the public during the Euro 1992, where he played a key role in the unexpected victory of Denmark thanks to his many stops. He is the most-capped Danish player ever with 129 appearances.
Iconic goalkeeper of Manchester United, he will collect trophies during his 8 years with the Red Devils: 5 Premier League titles, 3 FA Cups, and especially a Champions League in his final year at the club in 1999. He finished his career with spells at Sporting CP, Aston Villa, and Manchester City.
5. Oliver Kahn
A very commanding goalkeeper with a very strong personality, Oliver Kahn was arguably the best goalkeeper in the world in his era. The German goalkeeper is a hard worker with a steel mind, able to be always at the peak of his concentration during his matches. His incredible reflexes, memorable saves, and amazing agility have earned him a solid place on this list.
With Bayern Munich, he won 9 domestic titles, 6 German Cups, and one UEFA Cup. He finally won the Champions League in 2001, after a bitter loss in the final in 1999. During the final, he stopped 3 penalties and contributed greatly to the victory of his team.
Oliver Kahn was named the best player of the 2002 World Cup (a first for a goalkeeper), despite the loss against Brazil of Ronaldo in the final. However, he will never win an international competition with Germany as a starter.
4. Dino Zoff
Dino Zoff is undoubtedly one of the greatest goalkeepers ever. He is a goalkeeper who prefers effectiveness and prudence rather than having to make spectacular stops, even if he was able to do so. He had a career of incredible longevity, which spanned from 1961 to 1983.
At club level, he first played for Napoli for 5 seasons before joining Juventus of Turin. With the Bianconeri, Zoff will finally win his first club trophies. And during his 11 seasons with Juventus, he won 6 league titles, 2 Italian Cups, and 1 UEFA Cup. However, despite two finals in 1973 and 1983, Zoff never won the Champions League, one of the main leagues to bet on football.
With Italy, he first won the European Cup in 1968, then he was a finalist in the World Cup in 1970, and he was the oldest player to have won a World Cup in 1982 at the age of 40. Dino Zoff played 112 matches for his national team, making him the 6th most capped player in Italy.
3. Manuel Neuer
Manuel Neuer has transformed the role of the goalkeeper by playing very high and by being more involved in the game. The way he comes out of the box and his skill with the ball makes him almost like a sweeper.
Neuer is still playing, but he is already a legend of the German team and of Bayern Munich, one of the best European clubs ever. With the Bavarian club, the German goalkeeper has won 10 league titles and two Champions League titles, in 2013 and 2020.
Neuer also has a successful career in the national team. After falling short of the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2010 and the Euro in 2012, he finally won the World Cup in 2014. With 12 great seasons at Bayern and 117 appearances for Germany, Neuer is arguably one of the best goalkeepers ever.
2. Gianluigi Buffon
Now 45 years old, Buffon is a legend and an example of longevity. His consistency at the highest level for over 2 decades has put him among the greatest goalkeepers ever. He started his career with Parma, with whom he won the UEFA Cup and the Italian Cup in 1999.
Then in 2001 he became the legendary goalkeeper of Juventus and stayed there for almost 17 years. Buffon will have won 10 Serie A and 4 Italian cups with the Turin club, only the Champions League has eluded him, despite 3 finals in 2003, 2015, and 2017.
He is also the most capped player in the Italian national team (176 matches), with which he played in 4 European Championships and 5 World Cups, including the one won in 2006 against France.
1. Lev Yashin
Lev Yashin is most likely the greatest goalkeeper ever. He is the only goalkeeper in football history to have won the Ballon d’Or (1963). He transformed the role of goalkeeper with his stunning interventions and his new style, which earned him the title of the best goalkeeper of the 20th century by FIFA.
Lev Yashin led the USSR to the final victory in the 1956 Olympic Games and in the 1960 Euro. The Russian goalkeeper also helped his team to reach the semi-finals of the 1966 World Cup. But Yashin also had a long career with his club, Dynamo Moscow, with many trophies.
The “black spider”, as he was known, played 365 matches with Dynamo Moscow and won 4 times the USSR league. He holds a record of more than 150 penalties saved and 270 clean sheets during his career. Lev Yashin was also named European Goalkeeper of the Year 9 times between 1956 and 1966.
This concludes our ranking of the 10 best goalkeepers the world has ever seen. Their achievements are remarkable and continue to inspire the new generation of football fans as well as those who want to register for an account at the best betting platform and win thanks to their favorite goalkeepers.
