Top 10 Greatest Goalkeepers of All Time

The 10 Best Goalkeepers of All Time – RANKED

The goalkeepers, often shortened to keeper or goalie, is one of the major positions of association football. It is the most specialised position in the sport. The goalkeeper’s primary role is to prevent the opposing team from scoring (moving the ball over the defended goal-line within the frame of the goal). As we look at one of the most specialised positions in football, we have listed here the best of them all – the greatest goalkeepers of all time!

Let’s take a look and go through the top ten best goalkeepers of all time! Watch & Bet on Football Live =>

10. David Seaman

Seaman was regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world during the 1990s, earning praise from other goalkeepers such as Sepp Maier and Francesco Toldo. A tall and well–rounded keeper, with a large frame, he was known for his bravery, quick reflexes, agility, and excellent positional sense, as well as his reliable handling and ability to judge the ball, which allowed him to come out and collect crosses and command his area effectively, earning him the nickname “safe hands” in the media; although he was not particularly flashy in his style of goalkeeping, he was regarded as an efficient and generally reliable goalkeeper, who was known for his cool demeanour, authoritative presence, and calm composure in goal, as well as his leadership and ability to organise his back–line, which inspired a sense of confidence in his teammates

9. Lev Yashin

Lev Ivanovich Yashin, born on the 22^nd of October 1929 and died on March 20^th of 1990 in Moscow, Russia, was a former Soviet professional footballer, considered by many as the greatest goalkeeper in the football history.

The only goalkeeper to have ever won the Ballon d’Or, Lev Yashin was a true pioneer of his position. At a time when goalkeepers were expected to remain rooted to their line, the Russian became renowned for his bravery in charging out of his goal to claim crosses and close down onrushing forwards.

Yashin, who was named goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS, was beloved for his showmanship, wowing crowds with his spectacular, acrobatic saves, as well as his iconic all-black strip, which, coupled with the illusion of having extra limbs, earned him the nickname ‘The Black Spider’.

8. Sepp Maier

Josef Dieter Sepp Maier, born on 28 February 1944, is a former German football player. He played for Bayern Munich and the German national team and is known as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. Maier spent his entire professional career at Bayern Munich.

Maier was an integral part of the all-conquering Bayern Munich and West Germany teams of the 1970s. He was known as the ‘Die Katze von Anzing’ (the cat from Anzing) because of his outstanding agility and reflexes.

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7. Edwin Van Der Sar

Edwin van der Sar was born on October 29, 1970, in Voorhout, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands. He started out his professional career with Ajax in 1990 and played for the giant Dutch club for nine years.

Van der Sar represented Ajax, Juventus, Fulham, and Manchester United in his career.

He won the Champions League with Ajax in 1995 and then United in 2008 when he was named man of the match, making him one of a select group of players to have won Europe’s premier club competition with two different clubs.

6. Iker Casillas

Casillas is widely recognized as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time mainly because of his spectacular saves.

Ever since Iker Casillas debuted for the biggest club in the world at the young age of 16, he enjoyed nothing but success, claiming five Liga titles, two Champions League crowns, one Copa de Rey, four Supercopas, the UEFA Super Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup. Watch & Bet on Football Live =>

Moreover, he captained his country to their first national title in 44 years at Euro 2008, a feat he repeated at Euro 2012, and in between he led Spain to their first and only World Cup triumph in South Africa, making him one of only a very select band of players to have won every major domestic and world titles.

5. Peter Shilton

This remarkable athlete made 1,005 appearances over a 30-year career. Peter Shilton had notable spells with Nottingham Forest, Southampton, and Derby County in the 1970s and ’80s. He also earned 125 caps for England, playing in two European Championships and three World Cups. He shares a World Cup Finals record of having kept 10 clean sheets with Fabien Barthez. With Nottingham Forest, Shilton won two European Cups and a league title. One of the greatest goalkeepers of all time but one who we never got to see in our lifetime.

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4. Peter Schmeichel

Peter Boleslaw Schmeichel, born 18 November 1963, is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper at English club Manchester United and Denmark national team.

The Dane is famous for his intimidating presence in the penalty area when confronting an onrushing player. His now famous ‘starfish’ saves, that he perfected so often throughout his long and glittering career, prove he was undoubtedly the greatest goalkeeper ever to have represented Manchester United and Denmark.

Schmeichel played 292 times for the club from 1991 to 1999, winning five league titles before his crowning moment at Old Trafford that fittingly came in his last game for the Red Devils.

He captained the club to victory in the 1999 Champions League final, where his man-of-the-match performance helped Sir Alex Ferguson’s side win the Treble.

3. Dino Zoff

Dino Zoff was born on February 28, 1942, in Mariano del Friuli, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. In general, he played in 112 international matches for Italy from 1968 to 1983.

After winning the World Cup at the age of 40, he became the oldest captain, goalkeeper, and overall player ever to win the World Cup. He is also known as the oldest surviving captain following the death of Hilderaldo Bellini in 2014.

Zoff still holds the incredible record of the most minutes in international football without conceding a goal, 1,142 minutes, set between 1972 and 1974.

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2. Gianluigi Buffon

Buffon was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players in 2004.

He is the only goalkeeper to have won the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award, which he won after reaching the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final; he also won the award for best Goalkeeper that year.

The Italian has also been voted into the UEFA Team of the Year five times. Buffon was the runner-up for the Ballon d’Or in 2006 and has been elected part of the FIFPro World XI three times. He is the first goalkeeper ever to win the Golden Foot Award. Definitely, one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.

1. Oliver Kahn

Oliver Rolf Kahn, born 15 June 1969, was a German former football goalkeeper. In 1994, he signed a contract with Bayern Munich for the fee of DM4.6 million, where he played until the end of his career in 2008.

Oliver Kahn was an absolute colossus between the sticks for both Bayern Munich and Germany and probably the best keeper when confronted with a one-on-one situation with an opposition player.

The blond-haired, fiery No. 1 won everything there is to win in the club game while in Bavaria. The highlight of his career coming when his penalty-saving heroics in the shootout of the 2001 Champions League final against Valencia helped win Bayern their first European Cup for 25 years. Watch & Bet on Football Live =>

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