10 Greatest Goalkeepers Of All Time

There’s a sad fact that goalkeepers tend to be overlooked and underrated in recreational football matches. However, they play a sacred role in the team by protecting the team’s net as well as preventing the opponent from scoring a goal. That’s never an easy mission, requiring high agility, concentration, and many other skills to successfully do not keep.
Although the likes of Pele, Ronaldo, Messi, or Maradona are always at the center of attraction, many excellent goalkeepers have left a mark on the heart of football fans with their top-notch net saving. Given that our hearts skip a beat when the ball is around the net, these go-to goalkeepers tend to successfully block the ball from their net in a tense and tough moment that floats the boat of viewers. They then have a substantial contribution to the success as well as the fame of the team they play.
In this post, we want to draw your attention to the 10 greatest goalkeepers of all time. They are worth our respect and admiration for their profound skills of goalkeeping as well as their contribution to the team they play. Keep scrolling down to check them out.

#1 Iker Casillas (Spain)

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Casillas is one of the seven goalies with three UCL victories. Before joining FC Porto in 2015, Casillas played 725 times for Real Madrid throughout his 16-year senior career. From 2008 to 2012, he was Spain's first-choice goalkeeper. He has won three European Championships, a World Cup, and several Champions Leagues.
In addition, Casillas holds the record for the cleanest sheets for both the Spain national team and the UEFA Champions League. He received the Yashin Award as the best goalie in the 2010 World Cup. During the competition, he set the record for the most consecutive minutes without surrendering a goal (509).

#2 Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)

Source: IMDb

This well-known Italian goalkeeper began his career with Parma in 1995 but spent most of his time at Juventus. Gianluigi Buffon played 649 times in Serie A and 176 times for Italy in a career spanning 27 years and 1116 matches (both of which are records).
With Parma, Buffon won the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia, while with Juventus, he won four Serie A titles. He was instrumental in Italy's World Cup win in 2006. In seven games, he only allowed two goals: a penalty and an own goal by a teammate.

#3 Manuel Neuer (Germany)

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Manuel Neuer was born on March 27, 1986, in Dortmund, Germany. He plays football for Bayern Munich and the German national team. His achievements place him among the finest goalkeepers in the sport's history. Furthermore, he is the best football goalie currently active in the current environment.
Neuer is one of the few goalkeepers who excels with the ball at their feet. This legend was once encouraged to play in midfield by the supporters because of his prowess with the ball. The maestro will eventually play both goalie and defender or take free kicks if Bayern is down, usually in crucial matches. He has changed everyone's perceptions about goalkeepers by performing admirably in the "sweeper keeper" position.
In the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or voting, Neuer finished third behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He has received the UEFA Best Goalkeeper award and the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper award five times.

#4 Peter Schmeichel (Denmark)

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Peter Schmeichel, a Danish legend, is most remembered for his eight-year stint with Manchester United, where he maintained clean sheets in 42% of his Premier League games. He won the 1999 Champions League, five Premier League crowns, and three FA Cups with United.
Schmeichel was also a valuable asset to Brondby and Sporting Lisbon at different points in his career. In 740 club appearances, he won three Danish League titles and the Portuguese League. He also won the European Championships in 1992 with Denmark, for whom he has 129 caps.

#5 Gordon Banks (England)

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Gordon Banks played for the English national team and became the only English goalkeeper to win a World Cup is Banks. He is possibly the greatest English goalie in history with 73 appearances for his nation. According to the IFFHS, he was the second-best goalkeeper of the 20th century. Sadly, he lost the sight in his right eye in a car accident, which ended his career. He tried to return, but the catastrophe had already buried his abilities.

#6 Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)

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Most football picky fans agree that Lev Yashin is the best goalie of all time. He only ever played for one team, Dynamo Moscow, from 1950 to 1970, during which he helped win five league championships and three domestic cups. Yashin made 75 appearances for the Soviet Union, winning the 1956 Olympic Games and the 1960 European Championships.
Yashin earned the moniker "The Black Spider" for his amazing agility and quickness while donning the black goalkeeper jersey of the Soviet Union. Yashin, however, embodied the ideal goalie by fusing these abilities with incredible strength and power. His abilities were so exceptional that he spent a brief period working as an ice hockey goaltender. Additionally, he is the lone goalkeeper to ever get the Ballon d'Or.

#7 Oliver Kahn (Germany)

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Oliver Kahn played 780 times for clubs and was given 86 German caps. His 21-year career featured 14 years at Bayern Munich, where he won a UEFA Cup, eight league championships, the 2001 Champions League, and six domestic cups
Kahn won the 1996 Euro Championship with the German national team, and in 2002, he made history by becoming the first goalie to ever win the Golden Ball at a World Cup. Kahn was referred to as "The Titan" for his power and leadership. He was also charming and disciplined, however, he could lose patience with defenders who made mistakes.

#8 Dino Zoff (Italy)

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Dino Zoff, a former goalkeeper for a professional football team, was born on February 28, 1942. At 40 years old, the captain of Italy's national team became the oldest World Cup champion ever. He also won the prize for best goalkeeper.
Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Zoff has a distinguished career by staying healthy and displaying stamina, endurance, and drive. Moreover, he turned in some of the most incredible performances in some of the most well-known football leagues worldwide.
He won the Golden Player title, given by the Italian Football Federation, for being the greatest player of the previous 50 years. Zoff also holds the record for the longest stretch without allowing a goal in international football (1142 minutes).

#9 Petr Čech (Czech Republic)

Source: AFP

Petr Cech was perhaps the greatest goalkeeper in Premier League history when playing for Chelsea. At Chelsea, he nearly attained his goals of winning league crowns, the UEFA Champions League, and the Europa League. When they won the Premier League back-to-back in 2004 and 2006, conceding only 15 and 22 goals, respectively, he was a crucial component of their victories. The maestro went for Arsenal and eventually returned to take over as technical director at Chelsea.

#10 Edwin Van Der Sar (The Netherlands)

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Sar worked as a top executive with AFC Ajax while also playing professional football there. He belonged to the club's golden generation and the first gold generation, which included the first group of Ajax players to win the UEFA Champions League in 1995.
With 130 caps, Wesley Sneijder held the record for most appearances for the Netherlands in 2017. Van der Sar is regarded by experts and his contemporaries as one of the greatest goalkeepers ever. He is also one of the most accomplished goalkeepers in history, having won 26 major championships, many of them with Ajax and Manchester United.
During the 2008–09 season, he also set a world record by remaining goalless in the league for 1,311 minutes. Sar, who won the Premier League in 2011 at the age of 40 years and 205 days, also retains the record for the oldest player to do it.
Van Der Sar won the UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2009 and was named the best goalkeeper in Europe in both 1995 and 2009. He also remained one of the highest-paid football players to ever play the game throughout his career.