Manuel Neuer is the World’s Best Goalkeeper 2013

Editorial staff and experts from 70 countries and chosen from all the football continents took part in the 27th running of the IFFHS annual election of The World’s Best Goalkeeper.

After the reign of Iker Casillas since 2008 ( 5 titles in raw), it is not a surprise to see the domination for 2013 from Manuel Neuer, the German goalkeeper of FC Bayern München and the German National Team. After a second place in 2011 and two 4th places in 2010 and 2012, the 27 years old Manuel Neuer is , with more than 130 points advance before the second, the World’s Best Goalkeeper 2013. He won all world, european and german titles with the FC Bayern , concluding a fantastic year with this individual title. He shows also that a great team must have a great goalkeeper.

Behind Neuer, Gianluigi Buffon (35 years old) took the second place after an excellent year with Juventus Torino. He won the title four times (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007) and has been in the TOP 5 since 14 years! At the third place, Petr Cech, the Czech Goalkeeper of Chelsea London, shows all the world that he is with Buffon and Casillas, one of the three World’s Best Goalkeeper of the last 10 years. Cech, 31 years old, has been for the 7th time in th Top 3! After him, Thibaut Courtois, the young goalkeeper of Atlético de Madrid and of the Belgium National Team, can be his successor in Chelsea. He is 21 years old and had a great future. Victor Valdès from FC Barcelona took the 5 th place before Iker Casillas, who was the best from 2008 to 2012, and had a difficult year with Real Madrid. Iker, 32 years old, can have some other great years in the future.

RANKING 2013
1- Manuel NEUER (FC Bayern München): 211 points
2- Gianluigi BUFFON (Juventus FC Torino): 78 points
3- Petr CECH (Chelsea FC London): 64 points
4- Thibaut COURTOIS (Club Atlético de Madrid): 54 points
5- Victore VALDES (FC Barcelona): 53 points
6- Iker CASILLAS (Real Madrid CF): 23 points
7- Salvatore SIRIGU (Paris St Germain): 5 points

From IFFHS : International Federation of Football History and Statistics.

Here is other ranking from Bleacherreport.

• 1. Brad Guzan, Aston Villa

No keeper in a relegation battle has stepped up more for his club this season than Aston Villa\'s Brad Guzan has.

Guzan supplanted veteran Irishman Shay Given in the role as the top keeper at Villa Park at the beginning of the season and he has proven his worth during the duration of the season.

If Guzan had not been in net this season for Villa, surely we would have seen Villa drop to the Championship by this time already.

Guzans strong season in net for the Villains also helped him earn a spot in the United States starting 11 against Costa Rica and Mexico during CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying in March.

• 1. Stephane Ruffier, Saint Etienne

With all the attention in France being on the star-studded Paris St-Germain squad, not much attention has been paid to Saint Etienne and their keeper Stephane Ruffier.

In 36 matches in all competitions, the 26-year-old Frenchman has recorded 17 clean sheets and conceded just 25 goals.

Ruffier has been one of the main reasons why Les Verts are sitting in fifth place in the Ligue 1 table at the moment, which has them in contention for a spot in Europe next season.

• 1. Jimmy Nielsen, Sporting kansas City

While the Major League Soccer season does run concurrently with the European schedule, that does not mean we should ignore the American top flight.

The stingiest defense in MLS at the end of the 2012 season and the start of the 2013 season has been led by Danish keeper Jimmy Nielsen of Sporting Kansas City.

Up until last Saturdays match with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Nielsen had a 545-minute scoreless streak across six matches.

Nielsen was also named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year at the end of the 2012 season this fall and he was named to the 2012 MLS All-Star team that defeated Chelsea in July.

• 1. Arthur Moraes Benfica

It has been a two-horse race on top of the Portuguese Liga all season between giants of the game, Benfica and FC Porto.

Both clubs have played spectacular defense all season long, the two have conceded a combined 27 goals in league play, but one keeper has especially stuck out.

Benficas 32-year-old Brazilian keeper Artur Moraes has recorded 23 clean sheets in domestic and continental play this season.

Moraes expertise in goal has held clubs like Barcelona, Spartak Moscow, Celtic, Bayer Leverkusen and Bordeaux to zero goals in European play.

• 1. Thibaut Courtois,Atletico Madrid

For the last two seasons, Atletico Madrid have benefited from Petr Cechs stronghold on the No. 1 keeper position at Chelsea.

With Cech consistently starting at Stamford Bridge, his successor Thibaut Courtois is excelling in Spain with Los Rojiblancos.

With the 20-year-old Belgian between the pipes, Atletico Madrid have conceded just 25 times in La Liga this season.

Courtois has had 19 clean sheets in La Liga play this season, including shutouts in four of his last five matches.

Now the only question surrounding Courtois is when he will rise to the goalkeeping throne at Stamford Bridge.

• 1. Willy Caballero, Malaga

While Malaga have not conceded fewer goals than Courtois and Atletico Madrid have this season, their wily old keeper Willy Caballero has had a spectacular season.

Caballero was a huge part of Malagas run into the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, a competition in which the 31-year-old recorded six clean sheets in nine matches.

In La Liga play, Caballero has recorded 12 clean sheets as his club looks to finish in the top four at the end of the season.

Extremely harsh on Valdes and Courtois. Should've been 2nd and 3rd IMO

Chelsea have 2 world class Goalkeepers, That's a blessing. It's always hard to find a world class GK.

• 1. Morgan De Sanctis, Napoli

They say that goalkeepers, just like wine, get better as they age.

That is just the case this season for Napolis 36-year-old Italian keeper, Morgan De Sanctis.

After failing to find his own at Sevilla in La Liga, De Sanctis moved to Napoli in 2009 and he has achieved the most in his career during his time in Naples, including his strong 2012-13 season.

De Sanctis and Napoli may have been knocked out of the UEFA Europa League during the round of 32 by Viktoria Plzen but that does not mean they have let that affect them on the domestic scene.

Napoli is in line to finish in second place in Serie A this season and we will see De Sanctis and all of his experience on display in the UEFA Champions League next season.

• 1. Gianluigi Buffon, Juventus

It is hard to not put Gianliugi Buffon on a list of the top goalkeepers in the world at the moment.

Buffon has been one of the key players at Juventus for over a decade now and he is once again proving his worth for the Old Lady of Italian football this season.

Now 35, Buffon is still in world-class form for the Bianconeri and his 19 clean sheets have shown that he has no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

• 1. Salvatore Sirigu, Paris Saint Germain

One of the main reasons for the success of Paris St. Germain in Ligue 1 this season has been 26-year-old Italian keeper Salvatore Sirigu.

Sirigu has led the Parisians to the top of Ligue 1 and to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.

Sirigu has recorded 22 clean sheets in 41 appearances in all competitions, eight of which came in a streak of matches from December 8 to February 1.

• 1. Manuel Neuer, Bayern Munich

No goalkeeper in the world has been in better form this season than Bayern Munich and Germanys No. 1, Manuel Neuer.

Neuer has been the anchor to the Bayern back four that has given up an astonishing 14 goals in 30 Bundesliga matches.

Neuers blistering hot form has not been limited to the domestic scene as the 27-year-old has so far recorded four clean sheets, three in the knockout stage, in the UEFA Champions League.

With Bayern bringing in Pep Guardiola as manager of the club next season, one can only imagine how much Neuer will continue to thrive in the season leading up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

My opinion :
This 2 rankings says it all, its very dificult to have an accurate ranking concerning Goalkeepers, and Neuer is actually the best GK.
My ranking for 2013 :

1- Neuer
2- Buffon
3- Cech
4- Courtois
5- Diego Lopez

Honorable mentions : Casillas ( didnt play many games ), Valdes (in 2013 a new Valdes was born), Lloris ( The best GK in 1 on 1 imo, negative point : Short )

What is your top 5 or top 10 Gk personal ranking ?

@Foota
I noticed that all 2013 ranking of GK were different, the only similarities : The winner is Neuer and some names are frequently well ranked : Cech, Courtois, Buffon,Casillas...
Make your own ranking so we can compare ^^.

@Alex
Yeah you are right, but i think you will not keep both keepers, Courtois will have a lot of great opportunities soon, i dont know if he can wait for 3 years. Chelsea will have to make a choice soon.
You can make a top 5 or 10 to know wich GKs are popular in this forum.

De Gea is a nice keeper, I would have defenitely placed him in the 5th position.

I'm a bit disapointing that there is no Hart. City depend on him.

Joe Hart has been atrocious, De Gea is just above average.

Lloris should be above half of these names.

@lodatz Lloris is amazing, as a fan of the french national team (obviously) seeing our captain go to spurs was one of my biggest football heartbreaks in recent years. Now I'm torn between wanting him to concede lots of goals, and him becoming the best keeper in the game.

I personally cant put Lloris in my top 5, he is one of the best. But 2013 was not the best year for him, he did some mistakes in the national games that could costed us our qualification.
But i can find him a place in a top 10 2013 keepers, Courtois had definitely a better year.
Why do you think Lodatz he should be beter ranked ? I dont think so.

Mandanda > Lloris, that's just because national team doesnt want another black in the team, remember the guy who secretly recorded the federation meeting where they said that!

Mandanda is a great keeper, but Lloris deserved his titular place. And everytime Mandanda cout take his place, he failed to show more sucess at a national term.
And what has been said in the FFF ( French Federation of Football) was logical in my opinion, most of our players has the same caracteristics : Tall and strong but less skilful like in England, so if we want to compete with Germany and Spain, we should have more smart players and more guys looking to Ribery or Hazard with a perfect mix of skills, strenght and agility, racism should not just be in one side, the racism against the whites exists but less people talk about it.
What was said is to develop our youth formation philosophy and Anti-racism rules should not be another kind of discrimination against white people.
A white defender should be just perfect to be kept at the age of 16,17. Considering that our formation philosophy wants tall and strong defenders like Sakho..., but the list of that type of players is long in France.
Germany found the perfect equilibrium and this is what we want to do.
The colour has nothing to do with the problem, a tall strong white player is not wanted too actually because we have plenty of players with the same skills, and we are lacking of other style of players like in Spain, Germany.
Brazil mixed team of colours skills and strenght is a perfect example of what France should develop.

So, you're of the opinion, tiki, that a goalie from the MLS (and not even the best keeper in that league, is better than most of the keepers in the PL, La Liga and the Bundesliga?

No Lodatz, i shared 2 rankings and i put mine, we are talking about the best keeper of the year and someone having 545 scoreless steaks across 6 games, and Br is an US website, including one US GK for them is expected.
My aim in this post, was not to argue about if the ranks were good. But to see wich GKs were popular here.
Nobody gave his opinion about that.
And i can certify to you that its not because a GK is playing in a strong league that he is one of the best, we have some very good GK in France, Go watch Ruffier 2013 highlights, he is breath taking.
Even if i smell some bias toward this Us GK, why should he be worst than an EPL GK ?
Thats why i always argue with you, everything coming from EPL is considered the best for you anyhow... You are a bit EPL biaised everytime. Its not the only league in the world, and without foreign players, it will never be the best League. But when a player is transferred there ex : Lloris and Negredo, suddently they became more appreciated.
I told you Lloris was better than Friedel before he gained his titular place, and you were not that sure...

"Even if i smell some bias toward this Us GK, why should he be worst than an EPL GK ?"

Because he is? Seriously, that guy couldn't even get into the first team at Millwall, and spent nearly his whole pre-MLS career in the Danish league. That doesn't mean anything to you?

"Thats why i always argue with you, everything coming from EPL is considered the best for you anyhow... You are a bit EPL biaised everytime"

Only in areas where it's clear that the PL is superior. Goalkeeping and defending are two such areas. You're the one who constantly starts up the league comparison argument every time.

"I told you Lloris was better than Friedel before he gained his titular place, and you were not that sure..."

There's never been any point where I didn't think Lloris was better than Freidel. The question, when he arrived at Spurs, was one of integration. It was clear to anyone with eyes who was the superior goalkeeper, and who was the future. But, when you have an old veteran who has been our ever-present goalie for the last two years, you don't just suddenly dump them to the subs bench.

AVB handled it perfectly.

Why must you always start these arguments?

Because its the truth Lodatz, every EPL fan will give credit to a player only if he did it in EPL.
The number of EPL players coming from France is very important, and as la ligue 1 follower, a lot of players are given suddently more credit just because they changed the league. Even it they were never exeptional in La ligue 1.
In France, we know how much dificult to French players to adapt in La liga, and we give more credit to player that adapt to la liga comparing to Epl. There are only few French players in la Liga because they dont adapt to the style of play.PL superiority in Goal keeping ? When i wanted to laugh at GK, i watched 15 min compilations of English keepers fails.
There is only Cech who can compete with the best Keepers in EPL. You see EPL superiority everywhere mate.
Others are good but not the best.
Defense ? How many decent French Defender do you have ? Yanga mbiwa,Debuchy,Evra,Kaboul.......etc
I told you that EPL defense level is a litle bit higher than in France, just a little bit. The intensity is from another level.
I can certify to you that every single Defender in France will adapt better in EPL than in Spain and Bundesliga.

"Because its the truth Lodatz, every EPL fan will give credit to a player only if he did it in EPL."

That's not true at all. In fact, the reverse is most often true; there is some wonderful skill in the PL, but few La Liga fans will ever acknowledge that it's as good as theirs. It's always hand-waved away as 'lucky', or whatever, by non-English fans.

"In France, we know how much dificult to French players to adapt in La liga, and we give more credit to player that adapt to la liga comparing to Epl. There are only few French players in la Liga because they dont adapt to the style of play"

That's because France, like England and Germany, is based upon pace, power and precision. Of course they do better in a league more like their own.

"There is only Cech who can compete with the best Keepers in EPL. You see EPL superiority everywhere mate."

See, there YOU go with the actual underestimating, mate. Only Cech? Are you joking? Try Lloris, Hart, Vorm, De Gea and Mignolet, who I would put against the Top 5 of La Liga, to be perrfectly honest. Cortois may be fancypants at the moment in Spain, but if he's the best La Liga has to offer it's a shame he's clearly still not better than Cech. Who else might you have?

Well, Casillas is always a favorite, but, he's been frozen out Lopez, no? Would you say Lopez is better than Valdes? What about De Gea? Not buying that one, alas, and neither is Vicente del Bosque, to judge by his Spain squad selection.

Would you say De Gea is better than Lloris? Cause, see, I wouldn't. And yet, for some reason, you don't seem to believe that the PL has goalkeepers to compete with the world's best.

What about over in Germany? Well, there's Neuer of course, but he's already accepted. Who else? Ter Stegen? Not quite there yet, is he? Who... else does the Bundesliga have to offer as really GOOD goalkeepers? Let's see how closely you follow the German league.

See, it's really not bias, Tiki. It's just fricking reality. This is one area in which the PL is clearly better. I don't believe that the PL is best at everything, actually, but I sure as hell know it's the best at some things. This is one of them.

*"Defense ? How many decent French Defender do you have ? Yanga mbiwa,Debuchy,Evra,Kaboul.......etc*I told you that EPL defense level is a litle bit higher than in France, just a little bit. The intensity is from another level."

Well, I mean, I'm not trying to insult France, but, none of those guys are the best defenders in the league. Most of the best defenders I can think of in the league are Belgian, English and Eastern European. Just saying.

And, well, aside from Eden Hazard I can't really think of a player who came from Ligue 1 in recent years that has really made a lasting impression. Cabaye is good, but not great. Gouffran is decent. Giroud has done okay, but ask Arsenal fans if they think he's good enough to lead the team forward. Oh, wait, there's Lloris, but, I thought you were saying he wasn't that good.

I don't know why we're talking about defenders all of a sudden, but, the quality level has not been exceptional, to be honest, in that exchange. Maybe it's tougher than you think for Ligue 1 players to adapt to the PL?

Where's Michu been, by the way?

Oop, actually, Koscielny has been pretty darn good (though it did take him 2 years to get there) and there's Nasri. My bad.

Although, Nasri did join the league back in 2008. He's been here a while. ;)

@Lodatz

"That's not true at all. In fact, the reverse is most often true; there is some wonderful skill in the PL, but few La Liga fans will ever acknowledge that it's as good as theirs. It's always hand-waved away as 'lucky', or whatever, by non-English fans."

Sorry, but from my experience, La Liga fans are quite amiable towards the EPL. We just dislike EPL fans saying stuff like "he's not a good player unless he does it in the EPL first", or "he's not a good goalscorer unless he scores 20+ in the EPL". Other than that, we enjoy watching the EPL as much as La Liga. And we're aware that the EPL is, in general, a more difficult league to win than La Liga, and has better teams in general compared to La Liga.

So if you admit that many decent players are TITULAR in EPL without being exeptional, than you should think about the league level who still better than other leagues, but not as strong as you think.
In a way, you validate my opinion. As Dynast said, we are tired of hearing La liga teams achievements underrated each time for a League excuse.

To finish this never ending debate that i made, and im happy we talked about it.

I think EPL is more competitive than la liga because there is more powerful teams with good financial results, the competition between top 3 teams in Spain is as dificult because there is no adapting time and every single bad result can cost you the title and there is no chance to catch up when you have a bad form in the season.
So the lack of competitive teams, is good and not good at the same time, also my point is :

The Average Spaniard is better than the Average English player, i think everyone can agree about this.

but in term of tactics, English teams are more tactically prepared, and that makes all games complicated for top teams as they dont know how the bottom team will play tactically.

If you agree that Average Spanish players are better then average English players, then its at least a good point, because its just the truth.
And tactically, English philosophy of tactic playing is actually the best, as Italian one decreased considerably those past years...

If we cant agree about this, then we will never agree.

not even a mention for Enyeama D: