The 10 best goalkeeper performances of all-time after Eloy Room’s Curacao heroics | OneFootball

Curacao’s Eloy Room has made himself a hero after producing an incredible number of saves to secure his country’s first World Cup point.

A goalless draw against Ecuador was thanks to one man but where does it rank in terms of the best-ever goalkeeper performances?

Here’s our verdict.

10. Joe Hart – Barcelona v Manchester City (2015)

“Hart was incredible” said Luis Enrique. Gary Lineker described it as “a truly astonishing display of goalkeeping.” Lionel Messi said it was a “phenomenon.”

Manchester City arrived at the Camp Nou needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit against a Barcelona side that would go on to win the treble and yet a 1-0 defeat in Spain did not tell the full story.

Barcelona battered City. They had 42 shots, 20 of which were on target and yet only an Ivan Rakitic goal in the 31st minute went past Joe Hart.

It was the City shotstopper’s finest game for the club, probably the finest of his career and no matter what front three of Luis Suarez, Neymar and Messi could throw at him, Hart was equal to it.

9. Gordon Banks – Brazil v England (1970)

Not many keepers can claim to have had a memorable save against Pele but Banks’ is often touted as the greatest save of all time.

It came during the 1970 World Cup and even though England lost 1-0 to Brazil, the moment of the match belonged to the greatest English goalkeeper of all time.

Carlos Alberto plays the ball down the wing to Jairzinho who floats the ball to the back post.

Pele met it and fired a header towards the corner of the goal and yet Banks somehow reached almost a full foot behind him to claw it out.

8. Helmuth Duckadam – Steaua Bucharest v Barcelona (1986)

It is easy to look at the scoreline of the 1986 final as 2-0 to Steaua Bucharest and not think much of it but that was the scoreline in the penalty shootout, highlighting how incredible Duckadam had been.

As the Romanian side held Barcelona to 0-0 after 120 minutes, Duckadam went on to save four consecutive penalties from the Catalans to give his team a rare clean sheet in a shootout.

It remains the only major European trophy won by a Romanian club and earned him the nickname the “Hero of Seville”.

7. Eloy Room – Ecuador v Curacao (2026)

Making 15 saves in one game is impressive enough on its own. Doing so to register your century’s first-ever World Cup point is the stuff of legend.

Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha might’ve gained 14 million Instagram followers for his heroic performance to keep out Spain, and yet it was somehow not even the best goalkeeper display of the 2026 World Cup so far. Honourable mention only for him.

Eloy Room has cemented himself in the Curacao history books after making an incredible number of saves in their goalless draw against Ecuador.

The 23rd-ranked side in the world had 15 shots with an xG of 2.27 and yet Room was equal to it all.

6. Peter Schmeichel – Newcastle United v Manchester United (1996)

The two title rivals met at St James’ Park and it should really have been a comfortable home win.

Schmeichel faced shot after shot and although Les Ferdinand was wasteful with some chances, there was little he or any Newcastle player could do to get past the United keeper.

At the other end, Eric Cantona scored to secure a decisive victory.

5. Manuel Neuer – Germany vs Algeria (2014)

A keeper like Neuer has plenty of memorable moments throughout his career but the game that defined him came in the 2014 World Cup.

While sweeper keepers are popular now, Neuer was a trailblazer with the style and showed what he could do against Algeria in the round of 16 when he made just as many saves outside of his box as in it.

Neuer’s defence was finally broken in the 121st minute but by then, Germany had already scored two at the other end.

4. Tim Howard – USA v Belgium (2014)

Not every great goalkeeping performance resulted in a victory but Belgium’s defeat of the USA in the 2014 World Cup would have been a lot worse if not for Howard.

Howard set a still unbeaten World Cup record of 16 saves during that match. One of the men frustrated by Howard was his Everton teammate Kevin Mirallas who described it as “the best [goalkeeping] performance I’ve ever seen.”

Oh and not to forget, Howard was 35 at the time.

3. Petr Cech – Chelsea v Bayern Munich (2012)

Of all the entries on this list, Petr Cech’s was undoubtedly the one with the most riding on it.

Chelsea entered the 2012 Champions League final as huge underdogs, facing a treble-chasing Bayern Munich in their own backyard but the match was the story of two players.

At one end, it was Didier Drogba and at the other, Cech.

The Czech keeper was excellent throughout but his biggest moment came during extra time when he saved a penalty from Arjen Robben to keep Chelsea in it.

2. Rogerio Ceni – Sao Paulo vs Universidad Catolica (2013)

It may seem daft to include a match where three goals went past him but without Ceni, it could have been a lot more than that.

This match took place in the second leg of the round of 16 tie against Universidad Catolica in the 2013 Copa Sudamericana.

The Chilean team were the top-ranked side going into the game against the lowest-ranked in Sao Paulo but it was not just the quantity of Ceni’s saves but the quality of them.

Three of them are last grasps from behind his own body. Two more are fingertip saves over the bar. Ceni produced numerous moments that other keepers would have been happy to claim as the best of their career.

His heroics led to Sao Paulo pulling off an upset and making it through.

1. Thibaut Courtois – Real Madrid v Liverpool (2018)

Having lost the 2018 final to them, Liverpool fans already had reason to dislike Real Madrid but their hatred could have been condensed down to one man in 2022, Thibaut Courtois.

The Belgian keeper was ridiculous between the sticks in a game that Liverpool really should have won. The Anfield side had 23 shots compared to Madrid’s three and yet it was the Spanish side that walked away with the trophy.

Courtois won man of the match as he kept an xG of 2.19 out. A performance like that on the biggest stage in club football? The definition of clutch.