It’s been a World Cup of great players scoring great goals across this great continent—but let’s not sleep on the great goalkeepers, some of whom entered the tournament unknown and left with 14 million IG followers and marine species named after them. It’s only right, because a timely save can be just as crucial as a clutch goal. Here, then, are The 10 Best Saves of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Vozinha (Cape Verde) vs. Argentina
The man with the aforementioned influx of IG followers made a lot of stops across Cape Verde’s four games but none was as dramatic as this one against the GOAT.
Jordan Pickford (England) vs. Mexico
Mexico striker Raúl Jiménez fired eight shots on Pickford in the Round of 16, three on target, including this soaring header.
Zion Suzuki (Japan) vs. Brazil
Suzuki ruined what could’ve been an all-time Vini highlight. The Brazilian started his move by nutmegging a Japanese defender, then shook two more opponents in the box with a crossover dribble before firing an outside-of-the-boot shot earmarked for the far corner … before Suzuki’s left hand deflected the ball to the post.
Lionel Mpasi (DR Congo) vs. England
DR Congo took a 1-nil lead into halftime thanks to Mpasi, who faced five big chances in the first 45, and blocked them all. Even Jude had to bow down.
Ørjan Nyland (Norway) vs. Brazil
Like a centerfielder caught flat-footed by the fickle trajectory of a fly ball, Nyland scrambled back to his goal and had to lay out like Jim Edmonds to make a game-saving deflection.
Yassine Bounou (Morocco) vs. Netherlands
Not for the first time in his career, Bounou adopted an unorthodox approach to stopping a penalty—instead of diving, he just shuffled his feet in the direction he anticipated the shot would go, stopping it with his palm while standing up. He guessed right.
Bart Verbruggen (Netherlands) vs. Morocco
Had Morocco not eventually won on pens, this save would’ve been immortalized. In extra time, Soufiane Rahimi feinted his way to the front of the net with a gilt-edged chance to score, only to be denied by Verbruggen. Kick save and a beauty, Marv Albert might’ve said.
Orlando Gill (Paraguay) vs. France
Gill may have conceded a penalty to Kylian Mbappé, but he did make two sprawling saves on successive rapid-fire Mbappé shots. No wonder the Frenchman curved his post-game handshake attempt.
Alireza Beiranvand (Iran) vs. Belgium
Beiranvand was perilously out of position when the ball dropped to Maxim De Cuyper for what would surely be a Belgium goal. I mean, look at how much net was open. Somehow, Beiranvand kept it out.
Diogo Costa (Portugal) vs. Spain
Forget CR7, Costa was Portugal’s MVP. After saving his team’s bacon against Croatia, Costa wowed with this double save on Lamine Yamal and Álex Baena in the first half of the quarterfinal. Too bad Mikel Merino ended Portugal’s tournament.
