9 Greatest Saves in Football History (Ranked)

The saying goes that a great save is as good as a goal, but they rarely get the same recognition. The BBC have dished out a ‘Goal of the Season’ award since 1970. It wasn’t until 2022 that the first ‘Save of the Season’ was crowned in English football.

While they may not be recognised as frequently as the shots that do find the back of the net, a select few standout stops have carved out a spot in the annals of football history. Whether on the grand stage of the World Cup final or in a crucial Champions League clash, some of the greatest goalkeepers ever to don a pair of gloves have left their mark on the sport.

An unlucky group of strikers have been denied spectacular goals by razor-sharp reflexes, elastic dives and spell-binding acrobatics over the years. Turning the spotlight belatedly onto the most unloved position on the pitch, here is a look at the greatest saves ever made.

Ranking Factors

• Shot quality – The speed and accuracy of the effort flying towards the goal dictate how hard it was for the goalkeeper to get a glove on the ball.
• Occasion – There may have been more technically impressive stops in football history, but the context surrounding the save is crucial.
• Legacy – Any saves that have been mythologised over the years are looked upon favourably.

9 Mert Gunok vs Austria (2024)

Team: Turkey

Ralf Rangnick had led Austria to the top of Euro 2024’s ‘Group of Death’ and just witnessed his effervescent outfit tumble out of the knockout stages after a pulsating 2-1 defeat to Turkey, but he still had a sense of humour. “We had time to score an equaliser,” the former Manchester United manager sighed, “but it’s difficult when they have Gordon Banks in goal!”

Turkey were indebted to the acrobatics of Mert Gunok rather than Banks. The 35-year-old former basketball player was still alert in the final minute of stoppage time when yet another Austria cross was swung into the box. Christoph Baumgartner steered a powerful header onto the greasy surface in the RB Arena, but Gunok anticipated the bounce perfectly, using all 196cm of his hulking frame to paw the ball away. Turkey boss Vincenzo Montella wouldn’t be drawn into the hype, telling the BBC: “That is his job.”

8 Iker Casillas vs Netherlands (2010)

Team: Spain

Iker Casillas can be humble to a fault. One of the greatest World Cup-winning goalkeepers of all time was solely responsible for keeping Spain’s final against the Netherlands in 2010 goalless before Andres Iniesta nabbed the famous winner. As Arjen Robben, who ranks among the best in his nation’s history, hared through on goal an hour into the showpiece, Casillas gambled. The keeper guessed wrong. While he dived to the left, Robben prodded the ball towards the opposite corner only to see his effort skew off Casillas’ foot and past the post.

The entirety of Spain hailed Saint Iker, but the miracle man himself wasn’t overly impressed. “It was just good luck,” Casillas shrugged. “I’m convinced that if Robben and I lived that move 10 times, it’s possible he scores nine times.”

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7 Dino Zoff vs Brazil (1982)

Team: Italy

Dino Zoff’s denial of Brazil’s Oscar in the 1982 World Cup is so legendary that it is simply referred to as ‘la Parata’ – ‘the Save’. Italy’s 40-year-old skipper demonstrated the reflexes of a custodian half his age to smother a fierce downward header, not only preventing the ball from crossing the line but gathering it into his midriff in the dying seconds.

Brazil had already equalised twice in one of the greatest games in World Cup history. Zoff ensured the iconic contest finished 3-2 in Italy’s favour. A naturally reserved character, Zoff was so overcome by the emotion of the victory and his defining role in it that he gatecrashed a TV interview to kiss his manager Enzo Bearzot.

6 Gianluigi Buffon vs Milan (2003)

Team: Juventus

For a contest that is often derided as one of the most boring Champions League finals, Juventus and Milan produced a chaotic start to the 2003 showpiece. Gianluigi Buffon had already seen a disallowed effort from Andriy Shevchenko fly past him inside the opening eight minutes before the ball was swung into the penalty area in the 17th minute.

Milan’s Filippo Inzaghi dove into the ball head-first, powering an effort from 10 yards toward the bottom corner. Buffon was moving in the opposite direction but managed to contort his towering frame into such a shape that allowed him to tip the hurtling orb around the post. Inzaghi’s priceless reaction, crumpled on his knees, hands on his slicked-back hair on either side of a disbelieving gaze, captured the quality demonstrated by a figure known as ‘the Maradona of goalkeepers’.

5 Gregory Coupet vs Barcelona (2001)

Team: Lyon

What Claudio Cacapa was thinking is anyone’s guess. Lyon’s backtracking centre-back lobbed an evil backpass over his goalkeeper during a Champions League tie with Barcelona. Gregory Coupet had to dive at full stretch to head the ball onto his own crossbar, avoiding the punishment that would come from catching a pass from his teammate.

That gravity-defying act of quick-thinking is impressive enough, but the French shot-stopper was only just getting started. Barcelona’s Brazilian Ballon d’Or winner Rivaldo followed up on the rebound, planting a powerful downward header towards the bottom corner from six yards out. Coupet somehow managed to untangle himself and paw the point-blank effort away. Former England number one David James was one of many dumbstruck spectators, describing it as “the greatest save I’ve ever seen”.

4 David Seaman vs Sheffield United (2003)

Team: Arsenal

For plenty of onlookers – particularly those who don’t boast any association with Arsenal – David Seaman is defined by his mistakes rather than his years of consistency. The leaden-footedness that led to a pair of long-range lobs from Nayim and Ronaldinho represent the few blemishes in a career which earned him every domestic accolade available.

Any doubters of Seaman’s abundant talent were silenced in the 2003 FA Cup semi-final. On his 1,000th career appearance, Arsenal’s 39-year-old number one somehow scooped Paul Peschisolido’s header from point-blank range off the goal line, preserving a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory. For a goalkeeper so proud of his nickname ‘Safe Hands’, never had his gloved digits pulled off a more miraculous stop.

3 Jim Montgomery vs Leeds (1973)

Team: Sunderland

As Sunderland fans flocked to England’s capital to see the Black Cats go up against Don Revie’s legendary Leeds United side in the 1973 FA Cup final, a documentary crew capturing the day conducted a series of interviews with the travelling masses. One of the hopeful supporters just happened to be Jim Montgomery’s mother-in-law. When questioned on whether her daughter’s husband would keep a clean sheet, she confidently declared: “Oh yes. He’ll keep them out. He’ll do that.”

Against all the odds, Montgomery managed to fulfil that prediction. Sunderland’s keeper pawed Trevor Cherry’s diving header to the feet of Peter Lorimer, who struck the rebound with such force that both commentators for the BBC and ITV initially called a goal before hurriedly correcting themselves. As the instant replays belatedly showed, Montgomery had clawed Lorimer’s fearsome effort onto the crossbar, preserving his clean sheet in a famous 1-0 win.

2 Emi Martinez vs France (2022)

Team: Argentina

Argentina’s run to the World Cup crown in 2022 was littered with iconic moments. The opening-game defeat to Saudi Arabia, Nicolas Otamendi’s provocative celebrations against the Netherlands, every single thing Lionel Messi did. But few standalone incidents carried the same weight as Emi Martinez’s tournament-saving stop in the last seconds of the final.

As France’s Randal Kolo Muani was bearing down on Argentina’s goal in stoppage time of extra time, Martinez remembered thinking: “I wanted the ball to hit me in the face. I closed my eyes and said: ‘Hit me.'” The Frenchman’s effort struck Martinez’s outstretched boot rather than his face, forcing a penalty shootout which he helped his nation win. The keeper’s sprawling frame has been immortalised on the flesh of countless fans. Kolo Muani doesn’t need a tattoo to remember the moment. “It will be there for life,” he admitted. Martinez, and the rest of the world, won’t forget it in a hurry either.

1 Gordon Banks vs Brazil (1970)

Team: England

Pele scored 1,283 goals in his legendary career, but for many of a certain vintage, it was a shot he didn’t convert that lives longest in the memory. With what has since been dubbed “the save of the century”, England’s long-serving goalkeeper Gordon Banks flung his considerable frame to the turf just in time to bat the Brazilian’s header away in the group stage of the 1970 World Cup. In a decade-long international career crowned by England’s global glory four years earlier, Banks cemented his status with one stop.

Though not for the other half of that iconic act. “While it was indeed phenomenal, my memory of Gordon is not defined by that,” Pele reminisced after Banks’ passing. “It is defined by his friendship. He was a kind and warm man who gave so much to people.”

Stats via Transfermarkt.