Football's 20 greatest goalkeepers of all time

8) Iker Casillas

Clubs: Real Madrid, Porto

Country: Spain

The youngest goalkeeper on this list, Real Madrid fans refer to Casillas as a Saint. He’s performed many-a-miracle during his distinguished career with Los Blancos and the Spanish national team.

Since making his debut for the Madrid outfit in 1999, the Mostoles-born shot-stopper was in and out of the starting lineup until the Champions League Final in 2002. The final in Glasgow is mainly remembered for Zinedine Zidane’s amazing goal, considered by many to be the greatest goal in the European Cup’s history. But at the other end, there was 20-year-old Casillas who produced save after save to deny a dominant Bayer Leverkusen side.

Since then, Casillas has gone from strength to strength. He captained Spain to back-to-back European Champions in 2008 and 2012, and the most prestigious competition in football – the World Cup – in 2010. He would eventually leave for Porto in 2015.

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7) Sepp Maier

Club: Bayern Munich

Country: West Germany

Another member of the one-club band, Sepp Maier was the backbone of the legendary Bayern Munich side that won three consecutive European Cups in the mid-1970s. Maier was also part of West Germany’s national team that defeated the famous Dutch side, which consisted of Johann Cruyff, in the final of the 1974 World Cup.

He had an outstanding tournament, keeping four clean sheets. He was named the German player of the year thrice in the 1970s which is truly an unbelievable achievement, considering a goalkeeper winning such awards is usually uncommon. Maier retired at the age of 35, younger than most goalkeepers, because of a car accident.

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6) Ricardo Zamora

Clubs: Espanyol, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Nice

Country: Spain

Nicknamed El Divino, Ricardo Zamora is the oldest footballer on this list. He played with great distinction for Espanyol, Barcelona, and Real Madrid. Zamora was part of a fabulous Barcelona team that won three back-to-back Catalan league titles between 1919 and 1922.

He then moved on to Espanyol where he enjoyed success in the 1928/29 season, inspiring the Periquitos to a Catalan league title and a Copa del Rey triumph. Despite his Catalan roots, he moved to Real Madrid and guided them to their first two La Liga titles.

A great goalkeeper on the pitch, Zamora’s life off it was a little dodgy to say the least. Allegedly a brandy-lover and a chain smoker, he missed many matches in his career due to suspensions. But the award given to the best goalkeeper in Spain’s La Liga every season is named after Zamora.

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5) Dino Zoff

Clubs: Udinese, Mantova, Napoli, Juventus

Country: Italy

Dino Zoff was the finest goalkeeper in the 1970s. He didn’t concede a goal for 1142 minutes between 1972 and 1974 in international tournaments, which is a record that stands to date.

He also has the distinction of becoming the oldest ever player to win the World Cup. At the age of 40, Zoff captained Italy to the pinnacle of footballing glory in 1982, showing great character after a massive match-fixing scandal had broken out in Italy. He won the award for the best goalkeeper of the tournament as well.

He had a successful club career too, winning six league titles with Juventus.