All 24 EFL Championship clubs’ main goalkeeper ranked from worst to best | OneFootball

Football League World revisits the goalkeeper rankings in the second tier as we head further into the second half of the season

As we head further into 2026, conversations about who the best goalkeeper in the Championship is are starting to ramp up even further.

Everyone has their pre-season predictions on who is going to have a good year, but now, with a few months left of the campaign, people can use what's been seen so far this season to help back those up.

Back in September, Football League World revealed a 1-24 ranking of Championship goalkeepers, and five months later, after we've been able to look at who has emerged as each side's number one and seen them in action more, it's time to have a go again.

Here are all 24 Championship clubs' main goalkeepers ranked from worst to best.

Kicking off the list at the bottom is QPR's Joe Walsh.

QPR have tried their luck with numerous different keepers so far this season, but while Ben Hamer and Paul Nardi have taken the mantle at times, Walsh's return from a broken wrist back in January saw him reclaim the starting spot, and he hasn't been too inspiring.

The 23-year-old doesn't have too much experience behind him, and so far, he isn't doing a lot to suggest that he'll be the main man in the future between the sticks at Loftus Road.

The Hoops have been an entertaining side under Julien Stephan, in part due to their exciting attack, but also due to the fact that they concede at a similar rate, too.

23 ? ? Pierce Charles - Sheffield Wednesday

Despite missing the majority of the campaign through injury, and having recently retaken his place in the medical room due to a shoulder injury, young Pierce Charles is still recognised as Sheffield Wednesday's 'main keeper.'

The Northern Irishman was in for a big season, given how many shots the Owls were going to be giving up this year due to their vastly depleted squad, but the 20-year-old hasn't had too much of an opportunity to showcase his skills.

With just 26 senior games under his belt, he can't rank much higher, even if he does have clear potential.

22 ? ? Balazs Toth - Blackburn Rovers

Hungarian shot-stopper Balazs Toth hasn't had the best first season in the limelight at Blackburn Rovers, with the Ewood Park-based outfit battling against relegation.

The 28-year-old suffered a knee injury which took him out of action for three months, and during that period, Blackburn actually conceded fewer goals per game than they had done in the opening 13 games with Toth in goal.

He doesn't rank highly in goalkeeper stats compared to his Championship peers, and thus, a place in the bottom three is warranted.

21 ? ? Jamie Cumming - Oxford United

Jamie Cumming played a key part in helping Oxford United get into the Championship, and played in all but one game last season to help them stay there. However, like many in the Yellows side, the 26-year-old has struggled at times this season.

Where he'd ranked among the top in shot-stopping stats last season, Cumming has faltered slightly as Oxford look to face a tough task of avoiding relegation.

Matt Bloomfield will be hoping to lead a similar late flurry as he did at Luton Town last season, and he'll need his number one to rediscover last year's form to do so.

20 ? ? Egil Selvik - Watford

Ultimately, the quality of goalkeepers in the Championship this season means that even slightly average numbers can see you rank near the bottom, like Watford's Egil Selvik.

The five-time Norwegian international hasn't pulled up many trees in his first full season as the Hornets' number one, ranking in the middle of the road for the majority of goalkeeping stats so far this season.

It's been an uninspiring campaign for Selvik. Watford's play-off hopes are diminishing, and the 28-year-old isn't doing too much to save them.

19 ? ? Jakub Stolarczyk - Leicester City

You have to give the benefit of the doubt at times in these lists, and Jakub Stolarczyk has shown in the past that he's a reliable shotstopper across the EFL, but this season, Leicester City have been leaking goals for fun, and he's been the man tasked with stopping that.

The Polish keeper is still boasting serviceable numbers, despite the team's shortcomings, has made several good saves and has prevented more goals than the xG would suggest through two-thirds of the campaign.

But the Foxes haven't been good defensively this season, and the man in between the sticks cannot rank too highly due to that.

Portsmouth's main qualms have been their inability to put the ball in the back of the net this season, rather than keeping it out of their own.

But saying that, defensively, it's not been a season to write home about for Pompey so far, at least compared to their peers, hence goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid's relatively low position on the list.

The 28-year-old has been a reliable pair of hands throughout his season-and-a-half at Fratton Park. Before then, he was equally reliable in his native Austria. But in comparison to others, reliability isn't impressive enough for a top-half finish.

17 ? ? Max O'Leary - West Bromwich Albion

Max O'Leary was brought to the Hawthorns by Eric Ramsay and was immediately handed the number one shirt, indicating that he is the new favourite goalie at West Brom.

He hasn't done much this season, after playing second fiddle at Bristol City for the majority of the campaign thus far, but there can't be much ignoring of what the Irishman had done at Ashton Gate before this term.

The 29-year-old played every game in each of the last two Championship campaigns, helping the Robins to the play-offs last season.

That gives him extra credit in the bank, but other goalkeepers have simply done more this season to warrant finishing above him.

16 ? ? James Beadle - Birmingham City

Evidently, on-loan Brighton man James Beadle has a lot of potential, and his performances for England's Under-21s show that. However, at club level, there's been a bit of waiting for that potential to be realised.

Birmingham City doesn't give up many opportunities and often likes to control games, especially at home, which has meant that Beadle hasn't been called upon as much as many of his peers.

That being said, he's still very much in the middle of the pack for 'keeping statistics so far this season.

The 21-year-old has a bright future, and there's no doubt that the Brighton loanee will wind up near the top of this list in the future, but for now, it's a place in the lower mid-table for Beadle.

15 ? ? Radek Vitek - Bristol City

Another on-loan shot-stopper with a bright future, Manchester United goalkeeper Radek Vitek has been enjoying life in his first Championship loan, and is actually near the top of the clean sheet ranks halfway through the campaign.

Amongst all that, though, have been some real eye-openers for the 22-year-old, including two separate occasions where he's shipped five goals, against Stoke City and Derby County.

There's no denying the potential that the Czech shot-stopper has, but the quality possessed by other goalkeepers in the division ultimately stops him from climbing further up the rankings.