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The job of a goalkeeper in football is mostly a thankless one. While strikers are adored and loved for scoring some goals from numerous chances, keepers are expected to make saves on a regular basis.
The stakes are higher for a goalkeeper as compared to the rest of the team. If a defender mistimes a tackle or a midfielder loses possession, they still get a chance to make-up for their errors in the same run of play more often than not.
However, a goalkeeping error will on most occasions lead to a goal for the opposing team. Hence, it's important for top teams to have world-class custodians in their ranks to have a shot at winning trophies every season.
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Football has seen several top quality goalkeepers don the gloves on a professional level over time. Keeping aside their differences in style of play, all shot-stoppers enjoy a clean sheet at the end of the match. It is a matter of personal pride for the goalkeepers.
We will take a look at five keepers who have kept most clean sheets in football history in this list.
#5 Pepe Reina (358 clean sheets)
The Spanish goalkeeper has played for several top clubs in Europe. Pepe Reina spent his early years coming through the ranks at Barcelona. He has also represented clubs like Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Villareal, Napoli and Lazio.
Reina peaked during his time at Anfield. He won three Golden Gloves in the Premier League across eight seasons with the Reds. The Spaniard kept 136 clean sheets in 297 league matches for Liverpool.
Currently contracted to Lazio, he is out on loan at Villareal for the 2022-23 season. Reina has kept a total of 358 clean sheets in his career. He might soon be overtaken by Germany and Bayern Munich star Manuel Neuer, who currently has 353 clean sheets to his name.
#4 Petr Cech (397 clean sheets)
Chelsea brought Petr Cech to the Premier League as a relatively unknown player in Jose Mourinho's star-studded team in 2004. However, he turned out to be one of the best in the business and proved himself to be a generational player.
Petr Cech enjoyed massive success with the Blues, winning multiple league titles, domestic cups and the Champions League among other trophies.
On a personal level, he holds the record for registering 100 clean sheets in the shortest time (180 games). Cech also has the highest number of clean sheets in the Premier League (202).
The Czech Republic custodian has won the Golden Glove in the Premier League with two different teams. He has recorded 397 shutouts in 907 games across his career.
#3 Iker Casillas (440 clean sheets)
Playing for Real Madrid is not in the luck of every footballer. Even fewer get the chance to call themselves club legends at the Santiago Bernabeu. Iker Casillas is one player who has achieved that success.
He graduated from the Los Blancos youth academy and earned promotion to the first-team in 1999. He went on to spend 18 years at the club as a first-team player, winning several accolades with club and country.
He won the Champions League, La Liga and other trophies with Madrid while capturing the Euro and World Cup trophies with Spain. With 177 shutouts to his name, Casillas ranks third on the list for the most clean sheets in La Liga.
The Spaniard has 57 clean sheets in the Champions League, ranking first on that list.
He also holds the record for the highest number of clean sheets at the national level with 102 shutouts to his name. He has registered a total of 440 clean sheets across 1048 games.
#2 Edwin van der Sar (440 clean sheets)
Some goalkeepers hit their peak in the latter stages of their careers, as was the situation with Edwin van der Sar. The Dutchman graduated from the esteemed Ajax academy and was a part of the 1995 Champions League winning team at the Amsterdam Arena.
He signed for Serie A side Juventus in 1999 but left after just two seasons to join Fulham. His performances for the Cottagers impressed a certain Sir Alex Ferguson, who opted to sign the keeper at Manchester United in 2005, despite the player being 35 years old.
The decision turned out to be a major success as Van Der Sar won four PL titles and one Champions League with the Red Devils at Old Trafford. He kept 132 clean sheets in 313 Premier League games. Overall, Van Der Sar registered 440 shutouts across 951 games.
#1 Gianluigi Buffon (501 clean sheets)
Gianluigi Buffon began his career with Italian side Parma. He switched to Juventus in 2001 for a then-record fee of €52 million.
The Italian shot-stopper won numerous trophies with the Old Lady over the next 19 years. He registered 202 clean sheets in Serie A, which remains a record till date.
Buffon won the FIFA 2006 World Cup with Italy at the national level. He also won the Yashin award in that tournament. His 77 shutouts for Italy is also a record for the national side.
Overall, the former Juventus player has kept 501 cleansheets so far. He continues to ply his trade for Serie B side Parma.
