Top 10 goaltenders of all time

Behind every great football team is a world-class goaltender, but who has ever been the best catcher?

Playing in perhaps the most underrated position in football, goalkeepers are often overlooked due to the more glamorous players on the team.

It is one of the toughest challenges on the pitch, requiring concentration, composure, and the ability to defend the goal at all times of the game, but is it worthy enough?

You will often hear the names of Pele, Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Zidane, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and dozens of other outfield players.

But what about the goalkeepers? Shouldn't people like Manuel Neuer, Gianluigi Buffon, and Lev Yashin at least be part of the conversation?

We certainly pay tribute to goalkeepers and this is our take on the best goalkeepers of all time.

10 PHOTOS

1. Gordon Banks.

Gordon Banks is considered the greatest goalkeeper in England. The Sheffield native passed away in 2019 at the age of 81 and will forever be remembered for that save from Brazil in the 1970 World Cup. Creating a save that stopped the world, Banks showed an incredible reflex against a powerful and directive blow from Pele.

2. Edwin van der Sar.

Edwin van der Sar was a truly outstanding goalkeeper who was arguably the best performer in the last years of his Manchester career. Prior to United, he also played for Ajax in the 1990s before moving to Juventus and Fulham. Some of his saves in the early days of his Ajax career are incredible.

3. Peter Schmeichel.

Together with Edwin van der Sar, Peter Schmeichel is considered one of the most legendary goalkeepers in the Premier League. The Dane was one of the best goalkeepers in the world and won five league titles with Manchester United, as well as the Champions League in 1999. He ranks among the greatest footballers in the history of Scandinavian football and is widely known for his signature defensive yells to command.

4. Oliver Kahn.

Oliver Kahn is best remembered for his 14-year spell at Bayern Munich, where he won several titles, including eight Bundesliga titles and the UEFA Champions League. Kahn placed second with Germany at the 2002 World Cup but won the Ballon d'Or at that tournament. He also finished third in the 2001 and 2002 Ballon d'Or voting.

5. Petr Cech.

Arguably the greatest goalkeeper of the Premier League era, Petr Cech won four league titles with Chelsea, as well as the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. His top five saves were ranked during his time at Chelsea and they are, quite simply, outstanding.

6. Manuel Neuer.

Neuer, an unusual but supremely talented goalkeeper, has enjoyed huge success with Bayern Munich and Germany over the past decade. The 35-year-old is one of the greatest and most decorated goalkeepers in the world and the best German player in the first half of the 2010s.

7. Dino Zoff.

Dino Zoff is one of the best goalkeepers the world has ever seen, and that's a fact. The Italian, who is now 79 years old, played well for Napoli and Juventus. He won the World Championship in 1982 and the European Championship 14 years earlier.

8. Gianluigi Buffon.

Gianluigi Buffon was the world's greatest goalkeeper in the 2000s and is considered by many to be the greatest Italian player even above the great Dino Zoff. Buffon is still going strong at 43 and is a beloved figure in the world of football. The Juventus legend played 178 times for Italy between 1997 and 2018 and won the World Cup in 2006. Maybe he's still playing at 43 because of his love for the game or to break Zoff's record, who knows?

9. Iker Casillas.

Champions League, European Championship, and World Cup, and Iker Casillas won them. Casillas is best remembered for his brilliant 16-year career at Real
Madrid. Casillas was also Spain's best goalkeeper during the country's most successful period in their history from 2008 to 2012 when La Roja won two European Championships and a World Cup.

10. Lev Yashin.

Lev Yashin is, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest goalkeeper in the history of football and is considered the greatest football player in the Soviet Union. One of football's truly legendary names, Yashin spent his entire professional career at Dynamo Moscow, but it was his performances at the international level with the Soviet Union that caught the world's attention. During his career, he saved about 150 penalties, the best ever, having kept a goal in 270 games out of 420 career games played.