10 Best Soccer Goalies of All Time
Hi there,
As you may be aware I play as a goalkeeper and, as a model for my own game, I carefully watch the performances of many different goalies each week. This has often led me to think about who are the best soccer goalies of all time. There are countless ‘good’ keepers out there, but it takes a really special player to set himself apart from the crowd and excel consistently at the top level. Most goalies blur into the same mass of ‘good’ talent, then, but with this post we’ll have a look at what it takes to extend beyond just ‘good’. History has witnessed only a handful of truly ‘great’ goalkeepers, and I’d love to now run you through some of the absolute best. If you are an aspiring keeper then these are excellent figures to learn from. Even if you are an outfield player, this may also be relevant so that you can appreciate the role of the keeper: arguably the most essential part of any team.
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1. Gordon Banks
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Country: England
Detail: Born in 1937 in Sheffield. He made 23 appearances for Chesterfield, 293 appearances for Leicester City and 194 appearances for Stoke city. In addition, he got 73 England caps from 1963 until 1972 when he was forced to retire after a car accident.
Achievements: 1966 World Cup Winner + Arguably made the world’s greatest save against Pele’s header in a 1970 world cup match between England and Brazil.
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2. Lev Yashin
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Country: Soviet Union
Detail: Born in 1929 in Moscow. He made 326 appearances for Dynamo Moscow, in addition to winning 78 international caps 1954-1970.
Achievements: Named European Footballer of the Year in 1963 and received the Soviet Union’s Order of Lenin in 1969. He won 4 league championships with his domestic team Dynamo Moscow.
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3. Peter Shilton
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Country: England
Detail: Born in 1949 in Leicester, he played over 1005 league matches for 11 different clubs
Achievements: Gained more England caps than any other player, including those in the 1990 World Cup at the age of 40. He has won and received many awards and honours, including the MBE and OBE. Plus, he was the victim of Maradona’s ‘hand of God’!
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4. David Seaman
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Country: England
Detail: Born in 1963 in Rotheram, he played for Leeds, Peterborough, Birmingham, QPR, Arsenal and Manchester City. It was even reported that Juventus once made a £5m bid for him (a good sum then)
Achievements: Praise with one of the greatest ever saves: the claw-back for Arsenal against Sheffield United. Ranked the world’s best goalkeeper in 1996. Plus, he wears a pony tail.
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5. Peter Schmichael
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Country: Denmark
Detail: Born in 1963, he played for various clubs including Brondby, Manchester United and their rivals Manchester City. He is famously known as ‘The Great Dane’.
Achievements: Won the Champions League with Manchester United, as well as 5 league titles and 3 FA Cups. He was voted the world’s best goalie in 1992 and 1993.
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6. Dino Zoff
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Country: Italy
Detail: Born in 1942, he made 143 appearances for Napoli and 330 for Juventus in addition to playing for Udinese and Mantova.
Achievements: World Cup winning captain in 1982. For Juventus he won 6 league titles and the UEFA Cup. From September 1973 until June 1974, for a run of 12 matches and 1143 minutes of soccer, he did not concede a single international goal.
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7. Pat Jennings
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Country: Northern Ireland
Detail: Born in 1945, he played 673 games for Tottenham and over 300 at Arsenal. He played 119 times for Northern Ireland, including two world cups.
Achievements: He managed to survive playing for both Arsenal and Tottenham, when they are arch enemies to say the least! He won the FA Cup, league cup and the UEFA Cup.
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8. Brad Friedel
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Country: USA
Detail: Born in 1975, he got 82 international caps as well as becoming one of the Premier League’s most consistent keepers giving many brilliant performances over the years. He has played for Liverpool, Blackburn, Aston Villa, Galatasaray and the Columbus Crew.
Achievements: Nicknamed ‘the human wall’ for obvious reasons, after playing well in 3 FIFA World Cups. He was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 1997.
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9. Edwin van der Saar
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Country: The Netherlands
Detail: Born in 1970, he has played for various top clubs including Ajax, Juventus, Fulham and Manchester United.
Achievements: He is a UEFA Cup and Champions League winner, as well as being the most capped player ever for the Netherlands. He kept 24 clean sheets 2007-2008 for United.
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10. Jens Lehmann
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Country: Germany
Detail: Born in, he has played for Shalke 04, Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, Arsenal and Stuttgart. He is arguably most known for his controversial antics!
Achievements: He filled David Seaman’s boots at Arsenal, and took them to the final of the Champions League. He also took Germany to the semi-final of the World Cup in 2006.
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For what it’s worth, Bob Wilson and Oliver Kahn only narrowly missed out on the top 10. I’m sure many of you will have different interpretations to me- at least in the ordering of the above keepers- so please feel free to leave your own lists below. Can you name 10 keepers to match the ones above?
Have fun with that,
Soccer Geek
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where is buffon? r u kiddin me?
AGREED! I WANT LEHMANN OUT AND BUFFON IN! LOOK AT THIS AND TELL ME HE ISNT A GOD BC IF U DO UR LYING! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjKp_FCvRvE
Thanks for sharing your opinion. Clearly some great saves in this video, but on the whole I personally prefer some other goalies.
Thanks for the reply Mike.
Not at all. I am aware how popular he is and you are not the first to tell me that he is amongst the best! Admittedly he has presence and has some great shot stopping ability, but I often think of him more as a ‘fashionable’ goalkeeper with perhaps more style than substance. A little controversial I know, but I would still place these goalkeepers higher.
Sepp Maier (sp) Germany – you should see some of the footage of his work between the posts and also catching pigeons.
A few great Scottish goalies if it wasn’t for these guys we’d be even more pathetic !
Simpson for Celtic – check out the 1967 European Cup Final especially the AC Milan goalie
David Harvey – short career – Leeds Utd. early 70s.
Jim Leighton – Aberdeen goalie when Alex Ferguson was manager
Craig Gordon has makings of a long career.
Good choices though
Is it me but I have always felt Brazilian goalies were suspect – if the other 10 men weren’t so bloody good we’d know more.
A classic example – 1974 WC Scotland Brazil game
Good luck with the clean sheets – remember its a “frame of mind”
Wow thank you for all the additions Lindsay. Great examples of other goalies and matches for me and others to check out here. Just watched a video of Sepp Maier catching pigeons as you suggested… brilliant!
And yes I see what you mean about Brazil. If only other teams could get close enough to challenge the keeper.
On a related point, what do you think about the best goalie saves of all time? I’ve listed a few cool videos here: http://www.how2playsoccer.com/best-soccer-goalie-saves/
where the hell is Gianluigi Buffon?????
Dude where is buffon and memo ochoa, r u kidding me those two guys r beats at goal keeping, go check out there videos on youtube, and who ever made this email me pleasee