Well, in the game of football, a clean sheet is often looked upon as a benchmark of a goalkeeper’s dominance on the field against the opponent team. A goalkeeper is undoubtedly judged by his clean sheet record in the long term, which serves as a formidable indicator of their capability to stop the opponent team from scoring a goal. Over the decades, the game of football has witnessed numerous legendary goalkeepers. However, only a few out of them, including Gianluigi Buffon and Petr Čech, have been able to maintain and increase their career statistics.
In this article we will take a look at the top four goalkeepers who have maintained the most clean sheets in their glorious professional football careers so far.
Top 4 Goalkeepers With Most Clean Sheets
Gianluigi Buffon, Italy – 506 Clean Sheets
The Italian former professional footballer, Gianluigi Buffon, who played as a goalkeeper, is at the first spot in our list of the top four goalkeepers with the most clean sheets, who have undoubtedly dominated their opponents over the years. Often hailed as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of football, Gianluigi Buffon is one of the few recorded players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances and holds the record for the most appearances in Serie A.
Also, Italy’s legendary goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon holds the records for the most clean sheets in the history of professional football i.e. 506. Furthermore, Gianluigi Buffon holds the Serie A record for longest run without conceding a goal, i.e. 974 minutes.
Read More
Edwin van der Sar, Netherlands – 440 Clean Sheets
Next, at the second spot in our list of the top four goalkeepers with the most clean sheets who have undoubtedly dominated their opponents, we have the Dutch football executive and former professional player, Edwin van der Sar, who played as a goalkeeper with a total of 440 clean sheets. Edwin van der Sar is often hailed as one of the most successful footballers in both the club and the international arena.
Throughout his glorious professional football career, Edwin van der Sar played for multiple clubs, including Ajax (1990-1999), Juventus (1999-2001) and Manchester United (2005-2011) and for the national football team of the Netherlands (1995-2008). With a total of 130 caps, Edwin established himself as one of the most-capped Dutch players and represented the Netherlands in four European Championships (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) and two FIFA World Cup editions (1998 and 2006).
Iker Casillas, Spain – 440 Clean Sheets
At the third spot in our list of the top four goalkeepers who have maintained the most clean sheets in their glorious professional football careers so far, we have the Spanish former professional footballer, Iker Casillas, who played as a goalkeeper and currently works as a football commentator. Often popularly referred to as “San Iker”, Iker Casillas holds the record of third-highest clean sheets in the history of professional football, i.e. 440.
Throughout his professional football career, Iker Casillas achieved numerous prestigious feats, including the La Liga Best Goalkeeper in 2009, the IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper five times in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and the Golden Foot in 2017. Moreover, at the time of his retirement, Iker Casillas established himself as the most capped player in Spanish history with a total of 167 caps.
Petr Čech, Czechoslovakia – 397 Clean Sheets
Finally, at the fourth spot in our list of the top four goalkeepers with the most clean sheets who have undoubtedly dominated their opponents, we have the Czech former professional footballer, Petr Čech, who played as a goalkeeper and a current ice hockey player who plays as a goaltender for Oxford City Stars. Widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all-time, Petr Čech played for multiple clubs, including Chmel Blšany (1999-2001), Sparta Prague (2001-2002), Rennes (2002-2004), Chelsea (2004-2015) and Arsenal (2015-2019).
Petr Čech also enjoyed an entirely glorious international football career playing for the Czech Republic. At the time of his retirement, Petr Čech had the highest total of caps by any Czech player, i.e. 124. With a total of 397 clean sheets at the time of his retirement in 2016, Petr Čech continues to hold the record for the fourth-highest number of clean sheets in professional football.
