50 Greatest Saves in World Football History

The premise is simple. It's the selecting that's so hard.

This is one man's ranking of the top 50 saves in world football history.

But what makes a great save? And how do you weed out the pretenders?

It's impossible that we'll all agree on everything, but this list takes into account a number of factors, including athleticism, reflexes, balance, reaction time and awareness.

But it's also a list that rewards positioning, good fortune and the importance of the moment.

What do you think?

Tell me your top save, and let the debate begin.

Greatest Saves: 50-46

50. Rene Higuita, "Scorpion Kick," Colombia vs. England, 1995.

This save was actually brilliant. It took immense skill and concentration. But it was also a disgrace to hard-working keepers everywhere—and a blatant attempt by Higuita to draw attention to himself.

49. Boaz Myhill, Hull City vs. Watford.

48. Tobias Sippel, Kaiserslautern vs. Schalke 04, 2010.

47. Unknown Swedish league goalie. This is also an example of a terrible miss.

46. Fabian Barthez, Manchester United vs. Liverpool, 2002.

Greatest Saves: 45-41

45. Gianluigi Buffon, Italy vs. France, 2006 World Cup final.

We all remember what happened later. Before that—and before Italy could lift the cup—Buffon had to keep out this lethal-looking Zinedine Zidane strike to keep the score level in the 104th minute.

44. Artur Boruc, Celtic vs. Rangers.

43. Edwin van der Sar, triple save for Manchester United vs. Chelsea.

42. Angelo Peruzzi, Juventus vs. Roma, 1997. (Fast forward to the 4:13 mark.) Peruzzi makes a one-handed save low to his right on a first-time volley. It came against his old team.

41. Francesco Toldo, Fiorentina vs. Arsenal, 1999 Champions League.

Greatest Saves: 40-36

40. Kelvin Davis, Ipswich Town vs. West Ham United.

39. Joe Hart, Manchester City vs. Manchester United.

Hart runs the length of the pitch to save a long-distance shot after coming forward in search of a late equalizer. He looks like a green flash streaking down the field.

38. Pat Jennings, Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea. (Fast forward to the 0:15 mark.)

37. Oliver Kahn, Germany vs. USA, World Cup quarterfinals, 2002 (fast forward to 1:01 mark). Another view is here. Kahn denies Landon Donovan and Team USA a spot in the semis.

36. Pat Jennings, Arsenal vs. Liverpool (fast forward to 0:55 mark).

Greatest Saves: 35-31

35. Alan Main, St. Johnstone vs. Dundee, 1999.

34. Peter Shilton, unknown game for Leicester City.

33. Gianluca Pagliuca, Inter vs. Milan, 1998 (fast forward to 2:40 mark).

32. Peter Schmeichel, Manchester United vs. Everton, 1997. How did he see that?

31. Jussi Jääskeläinen, Bolton Wanderers vs. Aston Villa, 2006.

If Jääskeläinen hadn't saved this shot, Gary Cahill would be a fixture on the all-time greatest goals list. This was a superb long-distance strike from the Villa defender (he's now with Bolton), and Jääskeläinen had to reach at full length just to tip it away from the top corner.

Greatest Saves: 30-26

30. Dino Zoff, Italy vs. Brazil, 1982.

29. Stefano Tacconi, Juventus vs. Porto, 1984 Cup Winners' Cup final (skip to the 6:10 mark).

28. Rinat Dasaev, USSR vs. unknown (skip to 1:08 mark).

27. Guillermo Ochoa, Mexico vs. Brazil, 2007.

26. Brad Friedel, Blackburn Rovers vs. Arsenal, FA Cup, 2007.

Greatest Saves: 25-21

25. Bruce Grobbelaar, Liverpool vs. Everton, 1986 FA Cup final.

This isn't the toughest save, but it was athletic and it did galvanize Grobbelaar's Liverpool. Instead of fighting with each other, Liverpool came together and beat their biggest rival for the 1986 FA Cup.

24 and 23. Nikos Sarganis, unknown.

Sarganis is a retired Greek keeper. That's about all I know about these amazing saves.

22. Guillermo Ochoa, Club América vs. Santos.

Memo Ochoa makes his second appearance on the list. This time he makes it for turning himself into a bird and flying through the air to stop an unstoppable free kick.

21. Keiren Westwood, Carlisle United vs. Leeds United, League One play-off.

It's that second effort, when the ball looks like it's past Westwood's grip, that makes this save so amazing.

Greatest Saves: 20-16

20. Bogdan Lobont, Ajax vs. AC Milan, 2003.

The Romanian keeper makes a stunning reaction save off a wicked deflection.

19. Lev Yashin, USSR vs. West Germany, 1966 World Cup.

Yashin is one of the all-time greats, but it's hard to find clips of his best saves. Here's one of the better examples of what made him a legend.

18. Craig Gordon, Bolton Wanderers vs. Sunderland.

Ho-hum teams can still have world-class goalkeeping.

17. Guillermo Ochoa, Club América vs. Chivas.

Memo Ochoa makes the list yet again—this time for an unbelievable acrobatic stop against Chivas. Fast forward to No. 2 on the video above.

16. Gianluigi Buffon, Italy vs. Georgia, 2009.

Buffon again shows his superior athleticism and quick reflexes.

Greatest Saves: 15-11

15. Peter Schmeichel, Manchester United vs. Newcastle United, 1996.

Schmeichel saved twice in one-on-one situations against Les Ferdinand in a match that was billed as a title decider. The second one, around the 6:10 mark, is our choice for No. 15.

14. Peter Schmeichel, Manchester Unite vs. Newcastle United, 1997-98.

Two seasons later, Schmeichel denied Newcastle again, this time from a John Barnes header. In 2003, this save was voted the best in Premier League history.

13. Gianluigi Buffon, Italy vs. Paraguay, 1998.

A young Buffon shows he always had world-class talent.

12. Javier Muñoz Mustafa, Atlante vs. Chivas.

The best non-goalkeeper save of all time.

11. Iker Casillas, Real Madrid vs. Sevilla, 2009.

Casillas scampers across his box to deny a tap-in attempt at the far post.

10. Oswaldo Sanchez, Mexico vs. Greece, 2005 Confederations Cup

Watch it here.

First, Sanchez covers the top corner to deny a looping shot by Greece.

Then, while still on his knees, he swats away the rebound.

9. Jerzy Dudek, Liverpool vs. AC Milan, 2005 Champions League Final

Watch it here.

When you watched it live, you probably didn't think Dudek meant to save it.

But he did.

Watch again as he sticks out his arm to deny Shevchenko.

Dudek denied Shevchenko again in the penalty shootout as Liverpool claimed the title.

8. Helmuth Duckadam, Steaua Bucharest vs. Barcelona, 1986 European Cup Final

Watch it here.

This isn't one save. Helmuth Duckadam made four saves against Barcelona in the 1986 European Cup final.

Those four saves came on Barcelona's four attempts in the penalty shootout.

That's a perfect record in a penalty shootout. In the European Cup final.

Duckadam's heroics earned him the title "The Hero of Seville" (the match was played in Seville) and earned Steaua Bucharest its first (and still only) European title.

7. Andy Goram, Manchester United vs. Celtic, 1996

Watch it here.

It doesn't matter that the Celtic player volleyed the ball in Goram's general direction.

The Manchester United stopper still had to position himself perfectly, move at exactly the right time and stick his hand in the perfect place to stop the shot.

6. Neville Southall, Everton vs. Tottenham Hotspur, 1985

I can't find video of this save, which is consistently ranked among the best of all time.

Instead of me telling you about it, take it from The Guardian:

"

Apart from Bert Trautmann, Gordon Banks and Pat Jennings, Neville Southall is the only goalkeeper to ever win the Footballer of the Year award. And while the other three were no slouches, none of them were given their gong as a result of inspiring their team to the title. "When you've got a keeper like that in your team," said Everton's 1984-85 skipper Kevin Ratcliffe, "you can gain an extra 14 points." The Toffees, needless to say, won the title by a mere 13 points that season.

Should younger readers require a heads up, there's a compilation of Southall's genius that season at around five minutes during this clip. The pick of the bunch comes just before it, though, at 4min 53secs, when he denies Mark Falco of Spurs from close range. According to legendary Guardian correspondent David Lacey, it was "a save to rank with Gordon Banks's memorable moment in the 1970 World Cup". It was certainly important, denying Everton's main title rivals a late equaliser and effectively sealing the league title at the beginning of April. "This is the sort of way League Championships ought to be settled," added Lacey. Damn straight.

"

5. David Seaman, Arsenal vs. Sheffield United, FA Cup Semifinals, 2003

Watch it here.

David Seaman, ol' Safe Hands himself, probably doesn't know how he made this save.

His reaction time is unbelievable, but that only starts to describe the brilliance of this save.

Seaman moved quickly and decisively to get in position to stop the header. And he somehow had enough strength to palm it away.

Peter Schmeichel called it the best save he's ever seen.

The save earns extra greatness points because of the context. Arsenal led 1-0 with less than 10 minutes left.

Thanks to Seaman, Arsenal advanced. Later that spring, they won the FA Cup.

4. Gregory Coupet, Lyon vs. Barcelona, 2001 Champions League

Watch it here.

If you though Rene Higuita's save was impressive, then this one is astounding.

Coupet had to think quickly to clear a back pass in the second minute of Lyon's Champions League match against Barcelona.

So he headed it off his line with the skill of an acrobat.

Then he saved a point-blank header from Rivaldo.

3. Peter Schmeichel, Manchester United vs. Rapid Vienna,

Watch it here. Get another view here.

When you play youth soccer, your coaches always teach you that in goal scoring situations, you're supposed to head the ball down.

That's because it's almost impossible for the keeper to get to it.

Almost impossible.

2. Gordon Banks, England vs. Brazil, 1970 World Cup

Watch it here.

Schmeichel's save was almost a carbon copy of Gordon Banks' effort for England against Brazil in the 1970 World Cup.

Banks' save gets the slight edge for a few reasons. It came first. It came in the World Cup. Pelé was the opponent.

And it was a better save.

1. Jim Montgomery, Sunderland vs. Leeds United, 1973 FA Cup Final

Watch it here.

Sure, it's a conventional choice, but it's also the right one.

Jim Montgomery's double save in the 1973 FA Cup final is generally considered the best of all time, and I have no reason to go against that.

It's the second part, where Montgomery has the presence of mind and skill to deny Leeds again, that makes it so great.

And it was the occasion, too. Montgomery's save helped Sunderland lift the FA Cup for only the second time in its history.