Raya? Neuer? Maignan? Who are world's best goalkeepers?

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Manuel Neuer made his 136th Champions League appearance for Bayern Munich against Real Madrid

ByMarissa ThomasBBC Sport journalist

Published1 hour ago

It was a tale of two goalkeepers in the Champions League.

David Raya was described as "the best in the world" by some of his team-mates after his performance in Arsenal's 1-0 win at Sporting.

Meanwhile, a stellar performance by Manuel Neuer for Bayern Munich helped his team to victory at Real Madrid and led to a clamour in the German media for the 40-year-old's return to the national team.

It has opened up a new debate about who is the world's best number goalkeeper - especially with a World Cup on the horizon.

BBC Sport assesses the claims of some of the contenders - and you can vote for your number one at the end.

David Raya - Arsenal

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David Raya was hugely influential as Arsenal beat Sporting in the Champions League

In Arsenal's 1-0 Champions League victory against Sporting, Raya made four key saves including tipping a thumping Maxi Araujo shot on to the crossbar to keep the score at 0-0 before Kai Havertz's winner.

Since the start of last season, Raya has played 23 games in the competition and has conceded just 12 goals and prevented 9.0 goals.

Raya has kept the most clean sheets of any goalkeeper in Europe's top-five leagues (22) across all competitions.

He was nominated for the 2025 Yashin Trophy, presented annually to the best-performing goalkeeper at the Ballon d'Or awards, but did not finish in the top three positions.

But he is one of the few goalkeepers on this list who is not first choice for his country.

Unai Simon, who has spent his entire club career at Athletic Bilbao, was recently described by Spain national team boss Luis de la Fuente as "indisputable" when discussing his goalkeeping options.

Former Arsenal and England right-back Lee Dixon described Raya as "world class" on BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday. He added that Raya "has a way to go to touch the gloves of David Seaman, but he takes complete control of the defenders in front of him and they trust him".

Manuel Neuer - Bayern Munich

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Manuel Neuer was Player of the Match against Real

Despite retiring from international duty in August 2024, Manuel Neuer is still highly competitive at the age of 40.

Against Real in the Champions League, he made his 136th Champions League start for Bayern and rolled back the years with a superb performance.

Legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, summarising for CBS Sports, said Neuer "played one of the best games I have ever seen" and that the save to deny Kylian Mbappe was "probably the best save I have seen all season".

Neuer has never been nominated for the Yashin Trophy but has won 12 Bundesliga titles, two Champions Leagues and the World Cup with Germany.

Only fellow goalkeeper Iker Casillas has made more starts for a single club in the Champions League (149 for Real Madrid), with Neuer equalling Lionel Messi's 136 for Barcelona.

After his heroics in Madrid, there were calls for Neuer to return to Germany duty, where Oliver Baumann is the first choice.

Thibaut Courtois - Real Madrid

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Thibaut Courtois is aiming to win his third Champions League title with Real Madrid

Thibaut Courtois is missing with a thigh injury at the moment and his absence has been keenly felt by Real Madrid.

He has played 23 Champions League matches since last season and in that time has made a whopping 105 saves with a save percentage of 78.2%.

However, he has conceded 29 goals, 17 more than Raya in that period.

Courtois has been described by his manager Alvaro Arbeloa as "the best goalkeeper in history" and he has proved his worth in his time with Real, winning two Champions League titles as well as three La Liga crowns - plus one with Atletico Madrid.

The Belgium goalkeeper, who was a standout at Chelsea before moving to Real, also won the Yashin Trophy in 2022.

Emiliano Martinez - Aston Villa

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Emiliano Martinez has won the Yashin Trophy twice

A World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, Emiliano Martinez has won numerous goalkeeping awards since that triumph.

He scooped the Yashin Trophy in both 2023 and 2024 and was voted Best Fifa Men's Goalkeeper in 2022 and 2024.

He was described as the "best goalkeeper in the world" by his manager Unai Emery.

Martinez played in 12 Champions League matches last season, when he made 49 saves with a save percentage of 80%.

Alisson - Liverpool

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Alisson has won the Champions League with Liverpool

When Liverpool somehow won 1-0 against eventual winners Paris St-Germain in the Champions League last-16 first leg last season, there was one very obvious reason for that.

Alisson.

The Brazil goalkeeper was immense in Paris and his manager Arne Slot told TNT Sports afterwards that "I don't think there is a goalkeeper that played at this level, which is normal because he's the best in the world".

Since the start of last season's Champions League, Alisson has a save percentage of 86.1% from 12 games played and has made 37 saves.

He won the inaugural Yashin Trophy in 2019 and came second in 2022 and 2025, and Alisson was immaculate as Liverpool won the 2019 Champions League final.

Gianluigi Donnarumma - Manchester City

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Gianluigi Donnarumma won the Champions League with PSG last season

Since joining Manchester City in September, Gianluigi Donnarumma has been Pep Guardiola's undisputed number one.

Guardiola said of Donnarumma: "He's so tall and so huge. All 'keepers want to give confidence and personality to the team. He's a big presence on the bigger stages."

However, Donnarumma has sometimes been caught out by the physicality of the Premier League, especially at set-pieces.

Since the start of the Champions League last season - which he won with PSG - he has conceded 25 goals in 24 games and has kept nine clean sheets in those fixtures.

He won the Yashin Trophy in 2021 and 2025 but is still yet to go to a World Cup with Italy after they failed to qualify for a third successive tournament.

Mike Maignan - AC Milan

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Mike Maignan will be in goal for France this summer

The man who replaced Donnarumma at AC Milan when he moved to PSG was Mike Maignan - and he has established himself as one of the world's top goalkeepers while in Italy.

He came through the ranks at PSG but it was at Lille that he came to prominence.

In his first season at Milan, he helped the club win their first Scudetto in 11 years, and had league-leading statistics in terms of clean sheets and save percentage.

"Because of his consistency, he is the best in the world," former Brazil goalkeeper Dida told La Repubblica. "Then I'd put Donnarumma. Another one I like is Raya from Arsenal."

Honourable mention - Yassine Bounou

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Yassine Bounou was awarded best goalkeeper at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations

Yassine Bounou last played in Europe three years ago with Sevilla and has since moved to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal.

He ranked third for the Yashin Trophy in 2023 after helping Morocco become the first African and Arab nation to reach a semi-final at a World Cup.

Bounou was hugely influential as Morocco hosted the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, saving two spot-kicks in the semi-final against Nigeria.

His nation has been awarded the Afcon title after the Confederation of African Football overturned the result of the final, although Senegal have appealed the decision.

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