Best goalkeeper in fifa world cup?

In addition to the bigger prize of the FIFA World Cup trophy, an array of prestigious awards will also be handed out after the final at the Lusail Stadium on December 18.

A major one among them will be the golden glove award, which will be handed out to the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

The golden glove was introduced in 1994 and was initially named after Lev Yashin, the legendary Soviet keeper.

It was later renamed Golden Glove in 2010. The recognition is decided by the FIFA Technical Study Group, which assesses the goalkeeper’s performance throughout the tournament.

In Qatar 2022, there are four shot-stoppers who are serious contenders for the golden glove, going into the final stretch of the tournament.

A key part of Croatia’s glorious run into the final in 2018 was its goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, who saved four penalties in the shootouts for it.

Dominik Livakovic more than filled in for his predecessor, with spectacular performances against Japan in the round of 16 and Brazil in the quarterfinal. Just like Subasic, the 26-year-old keeper made four saves in the penalty shootout wins for his side.

Livakovic also leads the saves tally with 23 efforts, which also meant that he denied three goals than an average goalkeeper would have, based on post-shot expected goals.

Even though Croatia’s mighty run fell at the semifinal stage, Livakovic has a strong chance going of nabbing the golden glove prize.

A key figure in Argentina’s revival in recent years has been its man under the bar - Emiliano Martinez. The Aston Villa keeper has been up to it in Qatar with a string of sturdy performance, which has pushed the Albicelestes into the final.

Martinez’s presence has provided Argentina with a sense of calm and stability at the back. His significance was particularly accentuated during the shootout in the quarterfinal against Netherlands, when he denied Virgil van Djik from the spot first up, to put Argentina in the driver’s seat.

In the round of 16 too, Martinez made a crucial intervention, deep in the injury time, to preserve Argentina’s 2-1 lead against Australia.

Martinez will have one humongous challenge ahead of him in the form of France in the final and a solid performance should set him up nicely for the golden glove title.

Morocco’s miraculous run into the semifinal of Qatar 2022 was aided by some spectacular performance by its No.1, Yassine Bounou.

Bounou was in tremendous form throughout the tournament, with his resilience shining brightest against Spain in the round of 16, when he helped his side keep a clean sheet, before going on to save two spot-kicks in the penalty shootout.

The Sevilla shot-stopper continued on his hot streak in the quarterfinal against Portugal, as he kept out a menacing attack with some stunning saves.

Before the semifinal, where he let in two goals, the only goal Bounou had conceded was an own goal, in the group stage fixture against Canada.

French captain Hugo Lloris is a goalkeeper who has largely flown under the radar, despite leading his national side to the 2018 World Cup title.

A major reason for this has been his propensity to make errors at crunch moments, like the one he made against Croatia in the 2018 final. Thankfully for him, his gaffe didn’t matter as France had outscored its opponents to win the game.

In Qatar 2022, Lloris has acquired a veneer of security, with no particular instance of him erring. In fact, Lloris was at his dominant best against Morocco in the semifinal, where he denied at least two sure-shot goals in the second half, before holding on to a scratchy clean sheet, to take his side into the final for the second time running.

• Kevin Trapp and Gregor Kobel.
• From Serie A, Mike Maignan has been the best Goalkeeper for months.
• Petr Cech and Kasper Schmeichel are other strong Icon Goalkeepers who are more than solid at their job.

Mexico seemingly thaws out Guillermo Ochoa from his frozen cocoon every four years, reviving an unbeatable colossus between the sticks. Jordan Pickford remembers how to play soccer again as he thrives with a competent defense in front of him. Keylor Navas carries the dreams of an entire rainforested nation on his soldiers — and always comes through.

In the short tournament format, a strong goalkeeper can be the difference between a group-stage exit and a place in the semifinals. With such an emphasis placed on the man between the posts, these are the best goalkeepers at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Manuel Neuer (Germany), Yassine Bounou (Morocco), André Onana (Cameroon), Édouard Mendy (Senegal), Marc-André ter Stegen (Germany)

Country: Costa Rica

Club: Paris Saint-Germain

The hardest decision with these rankings was who to leave off this list. Yassine Bounou has quietly been one of the best keepers in LaLiga with Sevilla. André Onana is very talented but hasn't played much recently. Manuel Neuer and Édouard Mendy were the most difficult cuts. Neuer has not been the same keeper since his foot injury in 2017-18, while Mendy has been solid for Chelsea but nothing more. Jordan Pickford and Kasper Schmeichel were left off the list due to their EPL struggles over the past few years.

So why does Keylor Navas get the nod here? His 2021-22 campaign was no more impressive than any of the keepers in the honorable mention category, but he has consistently been an above-average shot stopper for Real Madrid and PSG, plus he always seems to find another gear when donning the Costa Rican jersey. Expect more of the same in Qatar.

Country: Portugal

Club: Wolverhampton Wanderers

In terms of pure shot stopping, no EPL keeper had a better year than José Sá in 21-22 — and it wasn't even close. While this showing is a surprise, the bigger shock is that the Wolves keeper has still yet to make his first international appearance for Portugal.

During the past calendar year, Portugal manager Fernando Santos has started Rui Patrício — who has been in decline since Portugal's Euro 2016 title, and Diogo Costa, an unproven 22-year-old who did not become a starter at the club level until the 21-22 season — ahead of José Sá in goal. Even Lyon's Anthony Lopes — one of the best goalkeepers in Ligue 1 — can barely get a game under Fernando Santos. Truly baffling.

If Santos starts anyone other than José Sá between the posts, it could be the costliest decision at the 2022 World Cup.

Country: Poland

Club: Juventus

Remember when Szczęsny was an inconsistent, mistake-prone keeper for Arsenal? His Gunners career seemingly endured forever, but by age 24 he reached a crossroads. Serie A beckoned, and the Polish netminder finally realized his potential, first with Roma and then Juventus — quietly transforming into one of the game's most dependable goalkeepers.

Country: Switzerland

Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach

Sommer is one of those keepers who goes unnoticed until you open up FIFA and realize he is an 85 overall. Followers of international football will know otherwise. The Borussia Mönchengladbach player has been a steady presence during Switzerland's footballing resurgence over the past decade with strong performances at the World Cup and European Championships. This year, his 5.0 goals prevented more than expected ranked in the 88th percentile among Big 5 European keepers, firmly planting Sommer in the top 10 of our rankings.

Country: France

Club: Tottenham Hotspur

At first glance, Hugo Lloris is in decline. His shot-stopping in 21-22 was his worst since FBref started tracking advanced goalkeeper stats in 2017, and his distribution still leaves a lot to be desired. Yet even in a "down" year, Lloris was still an above-average keeper — as he was worth 7.34 expected goals to Spurs in the EPL. Such is the standard set by the Tottenham keeper. Mike Maignan will deservedly get a look in goal, but Hugo Lloris is still a Top 5 keeper in the world.

Country: Brazil

Club: Manchester City

We all know Ederson is one of the best keepers in the world, but the stats show that in recent seasons the Brazilian has not been as good as his reputation has been hyped up to be. Across the Premier League and the Champions League this past season, Ederson allowed 4.7 more goals than expected. His sweeping and distribution are still elite, but he ranked behind Alisson, Lloris, Mendy and even Aaron Ramsdale in terms of overall value in goals for his team.

A keeper cannot be defined by nine months of slightly substandard shot-stopping, but Ederson's performances in the first half of the 22-23 campaign will be something to monitor.

Country: Belgium

Club: Real Madrid

Recency bias may be in play, given that Courtois was an absolute rock for Los Blancos last season, but the Belgian deserves such a favorable ranking. In 13 Champions League matches for Real in 21-22, the Belgian keeper prevented 5.1 more goals than expected — an almost unheard-of rate. He has been equally staunch domestically, allowing 0.71 goals per game in LaLiga over the last three seasons.

Courtois' save against Neymar in 2018 is a moment that will go down in World Cup lore, and the Belgian will add to his international legacy in Qatar.

Country: Brazil

Club: Liverpool

A few years ago, there were multiple keepers in conservation for being the best in the world. Manuel Neuer, Ederson, Allison, Jan Oblak and even Hugo Lloris had legitimate arguments for deserving the top spot. In recent seasons, all five have played very well, but only one has performed at a level worthy of pulling away from the competition: Alisson.

In every tournament, the man guarding the posts is one of the most important members of every team. A good goalkeeper may be the difference between success and failure for a team in a tournament like the World Cup. This article will take a look at five goalkeepers who have made a name for themselves in the past six weeks with their performances in Qatar.

Without further ado, here is a list of the five best goalkeepers in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has been one of the best in his position at the World Cup in Qatar. The Everton man was one of the front-runners to win the tournament's Golden Glove award for his efforts.

Pickford started all of England's matches in the tournament as they fell to a quarter-final elimination, losing to France. The 28-year-old was in his second World Cup edition and kept three clean sheets in five games. Only against France and Iran did the former Sunderland goalkeeper concede any goals in the Mundial.

Pickford made a total of seven saves in his five matches in the tournament. He was impressive for the Three Lions in their run to the quarter-finals.

The best player in the group stages, Wojciech Szczesny was one of the tournament's standout performers between the sticks. The Poland goalkeeper performed brilliantly for his country as they crashed out in the Round of 16 stage.

Szczesny was the preferred choice in goal for Poland at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Juventus man kept two clean sheets in four appearances for his country in the tournament. Most notably, he saved a penalty each against Saudi Arabia and Argentina in the group stage. Only France and Argentina were able to breach his goal in the tournament.

Szczesny made a total of 23 saves across his four appearances in the competition. The experienced goalkeeper played a pivotal role in leading his country to the knockouts before they crashed out to France.

Canada-born Yassine Bounou was unarguably one of the best goalkeepers at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He was in goal for the tournament's surprise package, Morocco, as they finished in fourth place after a historic run.

Bounou managed to keep three clean sheets in six appearances for Morocco as he played in all but one of their matches. The Sevilla goalkeeper delivered several quality performances for his country in Qatar. His best performance, arguably, was against Spain in the Round of 16 where he saved three penalties in the shootout.

Bounou helped Morocco keep clean sheets against Croatia, Spain, and Portugal, three of the best sides in international football. The 30-year-old was one of Mundial's revelations due to his performances for Morocco.

In 2018, Danijel Subasic was important to Croatia's historic run to the final. This year, Dominik Livakovic took on the role perfectly and arguably outperformed his predecessor on the biggest stage of all.

Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper Livakovic kept two clean sheets in seven appearances at the World Cup to lead his side to a third-place finish. He showed his class in both in-game situations and penalty shootouts. He saved a total of four penalties in shootouts in the tournament, equalling the record set by Subasic in 2018.

Livakovic made 25 saves from 31 shots he faced, preventing 80% of the shots he faced from going into the net. The 27-year-old made an incredible 11 saves in the match against Brazil before going on to save one penalty in the shootout.

Argentina's Emiliano Martinez was the best goalkeeper of the World Cup. The Aston Villa ace played a key role in his country's run to victory in the tournament in Qatar.

Martinez was awarded the tournament's Golden Glove award as he kept three clean sheets in seven appearances. The 30-year-old had a number of top-notch performances in Qatar, but his shootout heroics against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and France in the final stood out for many.

He saved the first two Dutch efforts from Virgil Van Dijk and Steven Berghuis to set the tone for a win. He also denied Kingsley Coman in the final.

Martinez had to make only seven saves in the tournament but has made a few vital ones. His last-ditch save to deny Garang Kuol in the closing moments of the Round of 16 helped Argentina overcome Australia's challenge. He also pulled off a stunning save to deny Randal Kolo Muani in the closing stages of the final.

Strangely enough, for a final that featured six goals and two of the game’s best attacking players going blow for blow, the game also highlighted how critical the actions of a goalkeeper can be in dictating results, World Cup winners and legacies.

For that reason, we decided to delve into our metrics to rank our top five goalkeepers from the 2022 World Cup.

Martinez’s heroics in the final secured the Golden Glove Award and the No. 1 spot on our list.

The Argentinian shot-stopper was relatively quiet during the earlier stages of the tournament but came to life in the knockout stages, saving two penalties in the quarterfinal shootout and keeping a clean sheet against Croatia in the semifinal.

In the final, he produced one of the saves of the tournament to deny Randal Kolo Muani in the 123rd minute to send the game to penalties, where his save from Kingsley Coman helped Argentina secure their first World Cup since 1986.

The quality of his shot-stopping shone through in our metrics, with Martinez boasting the tournament’s second-highest shot-stopping grade at 88.0. His positioning was also superb, as he received zero downgrades for positioning through seven matches.

When you combine this with the fact that he produced his best performance in the final — with three positively graded saves — when his team and country needed him the most, he was the obvious choice to be our top goalkeeper of the 2022 World Cup.

Szczesny left Qatar with the most saves of the World Cup (22) despite only playing four matches, which translates to 4.9 saves per 90 minutes. This volume was met with quality, too, as the Juventus man saved 81.5% of the shots he faced and earned an 85.1 shot-stopping grade, both good for fourth among all goalkeepers who played at least 200 minutes.

His best performance of the tournament came against Saudi Arabia when he kept a clean sheet and graded positively on four of his five saves. His most important performance arguably came against Argentina when he saved nine of the 11 shots on target to help put Poland through the group on goal difference. The best save that night? Saving a Lionel Messi penalty — the only goalkeeper to do that out of seven attempts this tournament.

First and foremost, Bono finished third in PFF shot-stopping grade at 85.8. His best performances were in Morocco’s two biggest wins against Spain and Portugal, where he saved every shot he faced (four) in normal and extra time, as well a two penalties in the shootout against Spain.

Bono also excelled at taking pressure off his defense through important clearances and with his commanding presence in the air, as he finished first among keepers in clearance grade and second in aerial-duel grade.

The Croatian keeper was tested lightly during the group stages — he saved three of the four on-target shots he faced — but this changed when he reached the knockout stages.

He put in his two best performances against Japan and Brazil to help guide Croatia into the semifinals, saving 12-of-14 shots faced in normal and extra time before going on to stop four penalties across two shootouts.

Other facets of play stopped him from being ranked higher on the list: He was middle of the pack when it came to passing and clearance grades, and he was below average when it came to aerial duels and positioning.

Pickford's 93.3 shot-stopping grade was the best at the tournament. He didn't receive one downgrade when tested and produced some high-quality saves, most notably against Senegal in the Round of 16. He was also one of seven goalkeepers at the tournament not to receive a negative positioning grade.

Pickford also provided quality with the ball at his feet, earning the second-highest passing grade (75.6) among keepers behind only Yann Sommer of Switzerland, and he finished second among goalkeepers in clearance grade (82.5).

If England had gone further in the tournament, Pickford would have likely been a Golden Glove contender.