The IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper is a football award given annually since 1987 to the best goalkeeper of the year as voted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). The votes are cast by IFFHS's editorial staff as well as experts from different continents.
The winner is announced at the end of the year. The winning goalkeeper is awarded a gold trophy at the World Football Gala. Italy's Gianluigi Buffon, Spain's Iker Casillas and Germany's Manuel Neuer have each won the award a record five times; Casillas won the award for five consecutive years between 2008 and 2012. Below is a list of the previous winners since the first award in 1987, which was won by Belgium's Jean-Marie Pfaff. Bayern Munich is the team with the most wins, with a total of nine.
Gianluigi Buffon has made the top three an unprecedented fourteen times. This includes five wins (joint record with Iker Casillas and Manuel Neuer), six runner-up (record) and three third-placed finishes.
At the end of the 20th century, the IFFHS also voted on the World's Goalkeeper of the Century, won by the Soviet Union's Lev Yashin running ahead of Gordon Banks and Dino Zoff.
In 2011, the IFFHS also voted on The World's Best Goalkeeper of the 21st Century's first decade, taking into consideration goalkeepers' performances during the first decade of the 21st century, between 2001 and 2011; the award was won by the Italy's Gianluigi Buffon running ahead of Iker Casillas and Petr ÃÂech.
In 2012, the IFFHS also voted on The World's Best Goalkeeper of the past 25 years, taking into consideration goalkeepers' performances between 1987 â the year of the award's inception â and 2012; the award was won by the Italy's Gianluigi Buffon running ahead of Iker Casillas and Edwin van der Sar.
In 2021, the IFFHS voted on The World's Best Goalkeeper of the Decade 2011âÂÂ2020, taking into consideration goalkeepers' performances during 2011âÂÂ2020; the award was won by Manuel Neuer running ahead of Gianluigi Buffon and Thibaut Courtois.