Who are the best women's goalkeepers in the world? Here are our top 10
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The best women's goalkeepers have only been getting better with the advent of full-time specialist coaches skyrocketing the standard over the past couple of years. Here are the 10 best goalkeepers in women’s football right now.
Best women's goalkeepers in the world: 10. Pauline Peyraud-Magnin
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Pauline Peyraud-Magnin has had a varied career, having rarely stayed for more than a season or two at any one club. A former goalkeeper for Lyon, Marseille, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid, she found herself at Juventus at the start of last season where she has excelled.
Peyraud-Magnin kept the joint most clean sheets in the Champions League as part of a Juventus team that famously upset the odds to make it out of the group stage at Chelsea’s expense. Peyraud-Magnin’s exceptional performance away at Chelsea, helping her team to a 0-0 draw, was one of the main reasons why Juventus were able to progress.
Peyraud-Magnin has also benefited from the souring of the relationship between former French number 1 Sarah Bouhaddi and French manager Corinne Diacre, to become France’s first choice. She started all of their matches at Euro 2022 as France reached their first ever semi-final at an international tournament.
9. Almuth Schult
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Almuth Schult bid farewell to a nine year spell at Wolfsburg at the end of last season, joining the newly formed Angel City in America. But Schult ended her time at Wolfsburg with arguably one of the best seasons of her career. The German goalkeeper made 44 saves in Wolfsburg’s run to the Champions League semi-finals, the second highest in the competition behind only HB Koge’s Kaylan Marckese.
Schult was able to add a fourth Frauen-Bundesliga title to her accolades, alongside her Champions League title from 2014 and her Olympic Gold medal won with Germany in 2016 where she was their starting goalkeeper.
8. Christiane Endler
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Chilean goalkeeper Christiane Endler joined Lyon from French rivals PSG last season. She made a strong start to her time at the club, keeping the most clean sheets in the league as Lyon won the French title. Endler was also incredibly important in Lyon’s run to the Champions League final, making a fantastic save against Paris St-Germain striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto in the semi-finals in particular. She started the final that Lyon won against Barcelona, although she had little to do in the end, making just two saves.
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Chelsea manager Emma Hayes previously said that Endler was one of the “best in the world” having actually signed her as a 22 year old at Chelsea.
7. Ellie Roebuck
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The fact that Ellie Roebuck is still only 23 is astonishing. The Manchester City goalkeeper made her debut for the club in 2016 when she was only 17 years old. Since then she has gone on to win the WSL once, FA Cup three times and League Cup three times for the club.
Roebuck’s return from injury midway through the last WSL season was a big factor in Manchester City securing third spot and an all-important Champions League place. Despite losing her England starting spot to Mary Earps, Roebuck recorded the highest save percentage in the WSL, saving 83.3% of shots on target in her ten appearances last season. She conceded just three goals in that time.
6. Adrianna Franch
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Adrianna Franch has been one of Kansas City Current’s stand out signings, with the 31 year old American keeper having shown herself to be one of the most accomplished keepers in the NWSL. Franch was the first player to have won Goalkeeper of the Year twice, after she collected the award in 2017 and 2018. She made 65 saves across the regular season, the third most in the league.
Franch also made seven saves in the NWSL semi-final match against OL Reign, helping KC Current upset the NWSL Shield winners and reach their first ever NWSL Playoff final.
5. Kailen Sheridan
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The 27 year old Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan has been one of the stand-out players for the newly formed San Diego Wave. The Wave became the first expansion team to reach the NWSL play offs, thanks in part to Sheridan’s performances, as she conceded the fewest goals (17) of any starting goalkeeper in the NWSL over 2022. She was named Goalkeeper of the Season as a result, the first Canadian ever to win a major individual award in the league.
Sheridan has also taken over the number one shirt in the Canadian national team, following Stephanie Labbé’s retirement. She won the Golden Glove at the 2022 CONCACAF Championship, letting in only one goal across the tournament.
4. Manuela Zinsberger
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Arsenal and Austrian goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger seems to just keep on improving year on year. She had an exceptional 2021-22 season as Arsenal finished second, just a point behind Chelsea, in the WSL. Zinsberger won the Golden Glove, keeping 13 clean sheets throughout the season, the most any keeper has ever managed in a single season.
Her good form has continued in the 2022-23 season, as she and Arsenal broke the record for the most consecutive clean sheets in the WSL, with it currently standing at 10.
3. Ann-Katrin Berger
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Chelsea’s Ann-Katrin Berger conceded the fewest goals in the WSL from a goalkeeper to have played more than 50% of available minutes, letting in only eight in 14 games, as Chelsea won their third consecutive WSL title. Berger was also in goal for both of Chelsea’s FA Cup triumphs last season. She has continued to prove that she is one of the world’s best when it comes to shot-stopping, and was rewarded with a first ever call up for an international tournament with Germany for Euro 2022.
In August, Chelsea announced that Berger had suffered a recurrence of the thyroid cancer she had suffered with earlier in her career. However, Berger was able to quickly undergo treatment and returned to Chelsea’s starting line up at the end of September.
2. Mary Earps
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It was not so long ago that Mary Earps could not even make it into the England squad. The 29 year old Manchester United goalkeeper started Sarina Wiegman’s first game as England manager and has not looked back. At the time, she might have benefited from an injury to Ellie Roebuck but there is no doubt that Earps deserved to hold onto her place. At Euro 2022, she started all six games, conceding only two goals across the entire tournament, leading to her being named in the Euro 2022 Team of the Tournament.
Earps has started the new WSL season in equally good form, not conceding a single goal in Manchester United’s first four matches. She currently holds the WSL all-time record for most clean sheets with 43.
1. Merle Frohms
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2022 was the year 27 year old Merle Frohms finally found herself on the biggest stage. Having previously played for Wolfsburg and Freiburg, Frohms helped Eintracht Frankfurt to Champions League qualification as they finished third in the Frauen-Bundesliga. No goalkeeper kept more clean sheets in the league than Frohms did with ten in her 22 games.
She also found herself as Germany’s first-choice goalkeeper for Euro 2022. Frohms kept four clean-sheets on Germany’s run to the final, the joint most with England’s Mary Earps
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Jessy Parker Humphreys is a freelance women's football writer. A Chelsea fan, Jessy has been following the women's game since being taken to the 2003/04 FA Cup final at Loftus Road and seeing Arsenal thrash Jessy's local side Charlton. Fortunately, Arsenal don't win quite as much as they used to – although Jessy hopes Charlton will also be back at the top of the women's game one day.
