Football's 20 greatest goalkeepers of all time

16) Gyula Grosics

Clubs: Dorogi Bányász, Mateosz, Teherfuvar, Budapest Honved, Tatabanya Banyasz

Country: Hungary

Goalkeeper of the Magical Magyars, Gyula Grosics is credited with inventing the position of a sweeper-keeper. He was very quick off his line and very assured on the ball. He almost played like a defender who dropped back in the penalty area only to grab hold of the ball with his hands.

The great Hungarian team came up short in the World Cup finals in 1954, losing to West Germany in the final, but Grosics’ contributions at the tournament didn’t go unnoticed as he was named the goalkeeper in the All-Star team of that World Cup. He was nicknamed The Black Panther because he always wore an all-black kit.

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15) Patrick Jennings

Clubs: Watford, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal

Country: Northern Ireland

When Sol Campbell made the move from White Hart Lane to Highbury in 2001, he was met with a chorus of abhorrence from Tottenham fans. In that sense, Pat Jennings was one of a kind.

He played for two big clubs in North London and is still admired by both sets of fans. In fact, most Spurs fans will tell you that selling Jennings was one of the biggest mistakes that the club has ever made. Jennings had perfect positional sense and he read the game superbly, which meant he rarely had to pull out the spectacular.

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14) Ladislao Mazurkiewicz

Clubs: Racing Montevideo, Penarol, Sao Paulo, Atletico Mineiro, FC Granada, Penarol

Country: Uruguay

Ladislao Mazurkiewicz is, perhaps, most famous for his stupendous performances in the 1966 World Cup (notably against eventual champions England), and in the 1970 World Cup (where Uruguay richly benefited from Mazurkiewicz’s performances to reach the semi-finals).

In the 1970 semi-final, you might have seen Pele’s dummy on Mazurkiewicz and eventual miss. Although it was the most embarrassing moment of his career, Mazurkiewicz had the wit to later say that he did enough to put Pele off from scoring one of the easiest tap-ins in history.

He was nicknamed El Chiquito (the little one) by team mates and fans because at 5’10”, he was one of the shorter goalkeepers in the game.

13) Ubaldo Fillol

Clubs: Quilmes, Racing Club, River Plate, Argentinos Juniors, Flamengo, Atletico Madrid, Racing Club Velez Sarsfield

Country: Argentina

Ubaldo Fillol’s greatness in Argentina is such that the award for the best goalkeeper in the Argentine Primera Division is named after him. In 1978, he was instrumental in La Seleccion’s success as he was named the best goalkeeper in the tournament.

He was renowned for his penalty-saving abilities, saving six penalties in a single season whilst at River Plate. He still remains the most-capped goalkeeper for the Albicelestes.