2022 World Cup goalkeeper power rankings: Matchday 3
By Mitch Wilks
And just like that, the World cup group stages have come to an end.
We'll forever cherish the beauty of the three games per day format. Waking up to football and then having an excuse not to leave the couch for the rest of the day? Football heritage, right there.
Oh yeah, the football. That was pretty good too. Particularly the goalkeepers. Here are the top 10 best performing stoppers from the final round of group stage action, in the eyes of 90min.
10. Unai Simon (Spain, down 3)
Simon was, admittedly, woeful as Spain fell to a shock defeat against Japan.
When you want your goalkeeper to take risks on the ball, you should expect errors, but Simon was so poor. Constantly misplacing passes and putting teammates under pressure, and then failed to keep out a straightforward shot.
9. Shuichi Gonda (Japan, -)
No calamities from Gonda as his side further established themselves as the giant killers in Qatar, but Spain being Spain meant he was actually rather quiet.
Simply not tested enough.
8. Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico, -)
A moment's silence, please, for Mexico and therefore Ochoa's World Cup exit.
The man who spawned in only to appear at the World Cup once every four years and turn into prime Lev Yashin has probably played in the tournament for the final time. It's been one hell of a ride, Guillermo.
7. Mohammed Al-Owais (Saudi Arabia, new entry)
They lost on the day and ultimately finished last, but Al-Owais and his Saudi Arabia teammates exit the World Cup with their heads held high.
He produced 11 saves against Mexico to keep the score down to just 2-1.
6. Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia, -)
No movement for Milinkovic-Savic, who put together an impressive campaign for himself between the sticks for Serbia despite their early exit. There's only so much one man can do.
5. Matt Turner (USA, up 2)
Arsenal have got themselves quite the keeper, haven't they?
Not his most exciting hour against Iran, but Turner crucially claimed another clean sheet and continues to solidify himself as a very, very handy asset and key to the fortunes of the USMNT.
4. Edouard Mendy (Senegal, new entry)
Mendy produced four saves to ensure Senegal saw off Ecuador in Group A and advanced to the last 16. He'll need to continue his impressive resurgence if they are to get past England.
3. Andries Noppert (Netherlands, -)
The ultimate World Cup superhero story continues.
Noppert is consistently performing in a composed manner for the Netherlands, which is all you can ask of the man who was never meant to be on this stage. Exceptional.
2. Thibaut Courtois (Belgium, re-entry)
He couldn't stop Belgium from crashing out of the World Cup, but Thibaut Courtois is one of very few in the squad who can leave with his head held high.
If it wasn't for the Real Madrid stopper against Croatia, they would've been comfortably beaten.
1. Wojciech Szczesny (Poland, -)
Not only does Szczesny now boast two penalty saves in as many games, the most recent one came against none other than Lionel Messi.
An absolutely monstrous performance to deny the Argentine and help Poland into the knockout stages. Showing his class.