Best goalkeepers in the world in 2023 The 10 best goalkeepers in the world in 2023, according to us. The goalkeeper is the most important ...
Best goalkeepers in the world in 2023
The 10 best goalkeepers in the world in 2023, according to us.
The goalkeeper is the most important player on a football team. Who is the best goalkeeper in the world? Even though everyone, no doubt, has their own critical opinion, we thought we'd try to answer that question.
Some of the best goalkeepers in the world, like Liverpool's Alisson and Manchester City's Ederson, play in the Premier League. However, there are also many top-quality goalkeepers in some of Europe's other top teams who keep clean sheets week after week.
Our list is mostly based on long-term success, with a little bit of short-term form thrown in. However, the odd stumble or really bad season has been ignored so that players who are having a hard time don't fall too far down the list.
Our list is based on trophies, league power, interesting stats, the "x-factor," and a lot of other things, and we know you're going to disagree with us completely.
All three of England's World Cup goalkeepers, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, and Aaron Ramsdale, were left out of our top 10 to show how strong our bench is.
RadioTimes.com gives you our final list of the 10 best goalkeepers in the world in 2023.
10. Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)
Okay, you might be thinking that this choice is a little bit influenced by how well Yassine Bounou did for Morocco at the World Cup, but those four weeks in Qatar were hardly out of the ordinary for him.
The Sevilla goalkeeper was a key part of Unai Emery's team that won the UEFA Europa League in 2019–20. In 2021, he was the goalkeeper in Europe's top five leagues with the most clean sheets.
If that wasn't enough to get him on the list, Bounou also won the Zamora Trophy in 2021/22 for having the lowest goals-per-game average of any La Liga goalkeeper.
9. Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
Even though Hugo Lloris is the better player on the French national team, we think Mike Maignan is better than the Tottenham goalkeeper because of how fast he is.
The AC Milan goalkeeper used to play for Lille, where he won the French title. He has more than filled the shoes of his predecessor, Gianluigi Donnarumma (more on him later), and was a key part of Milan's Serie A win last year.
Maignan has missed a lot of games this season because of a calf injury. It's not surprising that the Rossoneri have struggled defence without their first-choice goalkeeper and look likely to hand the league title to Napoli.
8. Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
You might think this is a pretty low ranking for one of the best goalkeepers of all time, but Manuel Neuer is getting older, and he broke his leg skiing in December, so it will be hard for him to get back into the Bayern Munich team when he is healthy again.
The 36-year-old has pretty much won everything there is to win: the World Cup, two Champions Leagues, ten Bundesliga, and five DFB-Pokals. He has won a lot of awards over the course of his work.
Neuer is a great shot-stopper, but he has also taken the job of sweeper-keeper to a whole new level. For the past 12 years and counting, his defensive clearances have given the Bayern backline confidence.
7. Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
Diego Simeone has helped Jan Oblak get to the top of his game. Diego Simeone is a boss who has become known for his tough, defensive style of football.
Atletico Madrid's style of play can divide people, but Oblak can point to the fact that Simeone has won both La Liga and the Europa League as proof of his methods and tactics. He is a great reader of the game and has a strong presence in the box. For many years, he has been the key to the team's success.
The Slovenian goalkeeper has never played in the World Cup, but he has won many individual awards, including the Zamora Trophy five times. He also came in second place in the vote for the Yashin Trophy, which is like the Ballon d'Or for goalkeepers, in 2021.
6. Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
Emiliano Martinez won the Golden Glove after Argentina won the World Cup in Qatar. His celebration with the trophy was one of the most exciting parts of the whole event.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper was a late bloomer. He didn't make the team at Arsenal, but he has made up for lost time and was named Player of the Season in his first season at Villa Park.
Martinez, who is 30, has done his best work on the world stage. His tricks to avoid penalty kicks were key to Argentina's Copa América and World Cup wins in 2021 and 2022.
5. Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG)
Gianluigi Donnarumma was bound for the top since the age of 16 when he made his debut for his former club AC Milan.
He played for the Rossoneri for more than 250 games in all competitions before making a big move for free to PSG in the summer of 2021. This move helped him win his first league title in his first season in France.
Donnarumma is a throwback to the old-school goalies because he is big and strong. He isn't like the current goalies who play the ball, and he used his size to stop two penalties in the Euro 2020 final shootout against England, helping Italy win the trophy for the first time since 1968.
4. Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)
The German is having one of the best seasons of his career at Barcelona, where he has given up only six goals in 17 La Liga games and kept 13 clean sheets. Even though he plays behind a well-trained defense, the most important thing is that he is doing better than his xG.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen might be easy to forget because he doesn't play much for Germany. However, he has won four La Ligas, five Copa del Reys, and one Champions League.
He has been Barcelona's first-choice goalkeeper for most of the last seven seasons, which probably feels like longer than that because of the club's problems off the field. However, Ter Stegen is in the best years of his career and is playing like it.
3. Ederson (Manchester City)
Ederson is so good with the ball at his feet that he could easily play in midfield for Manchester City next to players like Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva and not look out of place.
People probably do the Brazilian harm by talking more about what he does with his feet than what he does with his hands, but he's not a bad goalkeeper or cross-catcher either.
Ederson has been playing goal for Pep Guardiola's team for the last six seasons. He has won a lot of trophies, including four Premier League wins, but he still doesn't have the Champions League.
2. Alisson (Liverpool)
He beat Ederson in the fight for the number one shirt with Brazil, and he also beat his City foe here in a personal match.
Alisson makes mistakes sometimes, but what goalie doesn't? Over the years, he's won Liverpool far more points than he's lost them, and he was one of the last pieces of the puzzle when the Reds finally won the Premier League in 2020.
The 30-year-old won the Yashin Trophy in 2019 and came in second place last year. He is very good with the ball at his feet and is a great shot-stopper. He has won the Premier League, the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, the Champions League, and the Copa America, so it's safe to say that his prize case is full.
1. Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Who else but the most recent Yashin Trophy winner? Thibaut Courtois was the only possible choice.
Even though Belgium's "Golden Generation" has lied to fans time and time again, Real Madrid fans are glad to have a goalie with such a strong personality.
Courtois has won all of the big club trophies, including his first Champions League last season after a man-of-the-match performance in the final against Liverpool. He is a complete player with few weaknesses in his game.
Courtois seems like he's been around forever, but he's only 30 (he'll be 31 in May), so you'd think he still has a lot of time left at the top level.
Who is the world's best goalkeeper?
Thibaut Courtois is our first choice in goal, but most of the other goalkeepers on this 100% right list are not much different from him.
He has done well in more than one league and won a lot of big trophies. All he needs now is an international prize to be able to say he has done it all. It's a good thing that he still has time to do that.