The 2022 FIFA World Cup ended on Sunday as Argentina beat France on penalties to lift the trophy for the third time in its history.
Surprisingly, in a final where six goals and two of the game’s best strikers exploded off the boards, the game also highlighted how critical the goalkeeper can be in dictating results, World Cup champions and legacies.
1. Emiliano Martinez – Argentina
Martinez’s heroics in the final earned him a Gold Glove Award and a spot number one list.
The Argentine forward was relatively quiet in the early stages of the tournament but bounced back in the knockout stages, saving two penalties in the quarter-finals and keeping a clean sheet against Croatia in the semi-finals.
In the final, he produced one of the best saves of the tournament to prevent Randal Kolo Muana from sending the game to penalties in the 123rd minute, where his save from Kingsley Coman helped Argentina secure their first World Cup since 1986.
His shooting quality shined in metrics, with Martinez boasting the second-highest shooting rating of 88.0 in the tournament. Their standing has also been excellent as they have not been relegated in seven games.
When you combine that with the fact that he produced his best performance in the final – with three positive saves – when his team and country needed him most, he was the right choice to be the best goalkeeper for the World Cup in 2022.
2. Hugo Lloris – France
Hugo Lloris’ World Cup ended in disappointment in the finals, but he can hold his head high after some good performances for France in the knockout stages. Especially against England in the quarters. Sigh.
The France captain did everything he was asked to do before the final, but his woeful shootout record – Lloris failed to save any of the nine penalties he faced in the shootout – hurt his country when it mattered most.
3. Wojciech Szczesny – Poland
Szczesny left Qatar with the most tackles at the World Cup (22) despite playing in just four games, the equivalent of 4.9 tackles every 90 minutes. That volume was also achieved with quality, with the Juventus man saving 81.5% of the shots he faced and earning a rating of 85.1, good for fourth among all goalkeepers with at least 200 caps of minutes.
His best performance of the tournament came against Saudi Arabia when he kept a clean sheet and recorded a positive result in four of his five saves. Arguably his most important performance came against Argentina, when he saved nine of 11 shots on goal to help Poland progress through the group on goal difference.He saved Lionel Messi’s penalty – the only goalkeeper to do so in seven attempts at this tournament.
4. Bono – Morocco
First, Bono ranked third in PFF scoring with an 85.8. His best performances were in Morocco’s two biggest wins against Spain and Portugal, where he saved every shot (four) in normal time and extra time, as well as two penalties against Spain.
The Sevilla goalkeeper was the hero in the penalty shootout victory over Spain in the last 16, saving shots from Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets. He was also superb against Portugal as Morocco held on to win 1-0 before the fairytale came to an abrupt end against France in the semi-finals. The whole team – and Bono – can be extremely proud of everything they have achieved in Qatar.
5. Dominik Livakovich – Croatia
The Croatian goalkeeper was lightly tested in the group stages – saving three of the four shots he faced – but that changed when he reached the knockout stages.
He produced two of his best performances against Japan and Brazil to help Croatia reach the semi-finals. He saved 12 of 14 shots in regulation and overtime before saving four penalties in two shootouts.
Other aspects of his game held him back: he was middle of the lineup in the passing and passing categories and below average in aerial battles and positioning.