For a winning team, a goalkeeper is as important as ten players fighting on the ground. The ability to tackle and stop a shot of a player is what makes him a great goalkeeper. The manager of any team knows this well so they put their best man on the battlefield to protect the goalpost.
Also, the goalkeeper is the most sensible place in any football match. The goalies have seconds and sometimes even less than seconds to make their moves, one mistake could result in the loss of his team, and one right move results in a win.
Many times goalkeeper has been highly criticized by fans, media, and former footballers for the wrong move they made which cost their team a goal. In the football world, there have been many great goalkeepers who proved their potential on many occasions and helped their team win the trophy. Also, in the current football world, there are many highly skillful goalkeeper who is actively contributing towards their team win.
Finding a great goalkeeper in the squad is as important as finding a striker and any team’s manager knows this very well. In today’s football, Alisson Becker, Thibaut Courtois, and Emi Martinez are among the top performers and goalkeepers. Here, is the list of the 15 best goalkeepers in the world right now.
Best Goal Keepers in the World in Current Times
15. David Raya
David Raya has established himself as one of the best shot-stoppers in the premier league. His contribution as a showmaker played a vital role in the progress of Brentford under the supervision of Thomas Frank. David was promoted to the premier league in 2021 and after that, he took his game to the next level and never looked back.
Now, Raya has made it into the top club of the league i.e. Arsenal and soon he is going to be a regular game starter for the club. In the race to own him, there were many prominent clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, and Aston Villa, but Raya has chosen the best like he is.
14. Nick Pope
There are very few goalkeepers who could match the dominance in the box and command to their defense of Nick Pope. He has suffered from continuous relegation from his former club Burnely which made him to move Newcastle United. His move proved to be right, Pope’s performance was quite influential which helped a lot in the success of his team and himself as well.
Pope has many major achievements at the club level, in 2019-20 he was chosen PFA team of the year. In season 2017-18 and 2019-20, he won Burnley Player of the Year. Also, he was awarded with Premier League Save of the Month on several occasions.
13. Yann Sommer
Yann Sommer has always been a Bundesliga goalkeeper. He had a great nine playing seasons with Tottenham Monchengladbach when he moved to Bayern Munich as a replacement for the injured Manuel Neuer. However, it’s also true that Munich was highly criticized for signing Sommer.
The transfer has turned out to be quite fruitful to the Sommer and he performed brilliantly as Neuer’s replacement. The dominance of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga has also helped in Sommer’s great season.
12. Aaron Ramsdale
Aaron Ramsdale was made fun of for bazillion relegations from the Premier League. Also, many questioned Arsenal’s decision to sign him. With his talent and potential Ramsdale has proved that he is more than what Gunners have invested in him.
In the last season of the Premier League, he performed brilliantly and made many important saves which helped Arsenal finish as runner-up. Now, he is an unbeatable wall for the opponent’s striker and forward.
11. Gianluigi Donnarumma
At the time Gianluigi Donnarumma was linked to many clubs simultaneously. After having a struggling time at PSG and can’t make it to first-team, he moved to AC Milan in 2021. He is young with full of potential which is a great perk for him to be the top goalkeeper.
Donnarumma played an important role in Italy’s 2020 Euro glory and performed brilliantly throughout the tournament. Italy’s goalkeeper legend Guhen Buffon could be a great following figure to him.
10. Yassine Bounou
Yassine Bounou has been excellent since his debut in the Morocco national team but he wasn’t recognised by many. It was his heroic performance in the 2022 FIFA World Cup that got him all his due and he came to the attention of mainstream football. Bounoe guided the national team until the semi-finals of the World Cup
After his move to Sevellia, he proved his worth in the Europa League final. He made an amazing penalty shootout save which helped the club win the title for a record seven times.
9. Manuel Neuer
Manuel Neuer has been in top goalkeeper for nearly two decades and is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of all time. His immense contribution to Germany winning the 2014 World Cup can’t be forgotten.
Neuer has few years in his professional career but that doesn’t affect his performance, he is as sharp as he was ten years ago. However, he was out of the ground due to an injury in the 2022-23 season.
8. Jan Oblak
If you will notice Jan Oblak’s game you will see that he might have some power to attract the ball toward his gloves. It looks like his gloves have some gravitational force to attract the ball, such as the command of Oblak on the ball.
Oblak has won a five-time Zamora Trophy which clearly shows his unbeatable talent. He would have been on a much better rank if he hadn’t been absent last season. We can expect his comeback and show he is the top show and shot-stopper.
7. Andre Onana
In 2020, after dealing with a drug ban for one year Andre Onana made a strong comeback and established again himself as the best goalkeeper at Inter Miami. This summer Onana signed for Manchester United and created magic in each game.
Signing Andre Onana gives a long time of relaxation to Erik ten Hag, who was hunting for a suck skillful goalkeeper who suits his style of playing and Onana is that man.
6. Emi Martinez
Emi Matinez are among those goalkeeper who get glory from his national team Argentina rather than his respective club. He played a very crucial role along with Lionel Messi in the 2022 World Cup glory. Martinez was show show-topper in the final against France.
Emi Martinez was doing so and so at Arsenal, but he got an injury which made him sit on the bench for several months. Soon, he signed for Aston Villa where he is still playing a fantastic game.
5. Mike Maignan
Mike Maignan came into place when Inter Milan was desperately looking to fill the void created after the departure of Gianluigi Donnarumma to Paris Saint-German. The presence of Maignan became solid for both clubs as well as for him.
The 28-year-old guided Milan to winning his first Serie A title in the last decade. Maignan has 17 clean sheets during the tournament and won the best goalkeeper award. After such a magnificent performance, he is the best goalkeeper in Serie A and one of the best goalkeepers in the world right now.
4. Ederson
Ederson got a different level of attention from the football world when goat manager Pep Guardiola made a statement,” Ederson is the best penalty taker at Manchester City.” He matched Guardiola’s style of approaching the game which worked best for Man City.
In season 2022-23, the Brazilian performed brilliantly in the Champions League, making heroic stops against Real Madrid and Inter as City won the tournament for the first time. Ederson is extremely impressive with his foot and gloves in shot-stopping which makes him unique than rest.
3. Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Marc-Andre ter Stegen started his professional career with his hometown team Borussia Monchengladbach. He played for his hometown club from 2009 to 2014 until he joined Spanish giant FC Barcelona. Stegen is still playing for Barcelona. He started tasting glory and success soon after joining Barca. Today he is among the three best goalkeepers in the world.
In season 2022-23, the German had the best season of his career with Barcelona, conceding just 18 goals in 38 games and maintaining a magnificent 26 clean sheets. Despite proving his potential at Barca he is ignorant of the National team. Stegen rarely starts any game for Germany which creates a faded layer in his success and fame.
Stegen has won five La Liag, five Copa Del Reys and a Champions League at Barcelona. With his current performance, he will create more records and win more trophies.
2. Alisson Becker
Alisson Becker’s arrival at Liverpool has ended the search for number one for Jurgen Klopp. After signing Becker for £70m in 2018 from AS Roma there were many talks and questions about his ability and more. But, the Brazilian has shut down any and everyone with matchless consistent performance.
In the very same year of Becker’s arrival, The Reds won every title present there. Without a doubt, he is a topper shot-stopper. Becker has achieved many milestones, he won the Yashin Trophy in 2019 and was second in last year’s vote. A Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Champions League and Copa America winner.
1. Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois tops the list of best goalkeepers in the world right now. He is the winner of the last Yashin Trophy. Courtois joined Real Madrid from Chelsea in 2018. However, his beginning at Madrid was shaky but, soon he gets the pace.
Courtois has won all the major trophies at club level, including a first Champions League trophy in 2022 after turning in a man-of-the-match display against Liverpool in the final. Due to ACL injury, he will miss the bulk of the 2023-2024 season.
For several years Courtois has performed brilliantly at the club level and there is no doubt, that he’s the number-one goalkeeper in the world.
