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From Pele to Neymar, Brazil possibly has the most storied history when it comes to attacking footballers. Though the Selecao have fallen off the pace a little when it comes to international competitions in recent years, the five-time World Cup winners are still the most successful national football team.
Brazil has won legions of fans across the world thanks to their style of football, jogo bonito, the beautiful game, where Brazilian wizards, with their innate skills and technique transform the game into a work of art.
Often, it has been thought that Brazil won those World Cups purely on the back of their attacking prowess and not because of extraordinary defensive work. So, it might come as a surprise to many that two of the best goalkeepers in the world right now, Alisson and Ederson, both plying their trade in England, are both Brazilian.
Indeed, Brazil has come up in leaps and bounds when it comes to the role of the custodian, and in this article we will try to rank the all-time best goalkeepers that the Samba nation has produced. Indeed, there have been quite a few.
#10 Castilho
Carlos Jose Castilho was a club legend in Brazil, having played 17 years for Fluminense during which he played a club-record 699 games while also keeping a record 250 clean sheets.
Castilho was also part of four World Cup squads for the national team and picked up a winner's medal twice. He was, however, the back-up keeper on all those occasions and only played thrice in the Cup, in 1954.
#9 Barbosa
Often called the man who made Brazil cry, Moacir Barbosa's tale is reminiscent of the fall from grace of Greek tragic heroes. Perhaps the best keeper in the world in the 1940s and 50s, the Vasco da Gama stalwart is now only remembered for the Maracanazo, when favourites Brazil were upset by Uruguay in the inaugural World Cup final game (it was a final group stage and Brazil needed just a draw to become champions) in 1950. This defeat ranks even higher in tragic value for old-time Brazil fans than the 7-1 hammering in the hands of Germany in 2014.
Ironically, Barbosa was voted the best keeper of that tournament, but he would never be allowed to forget the misstep in a packed Maracana that led to Uruguay scoring the winner through Alcides Ghiggia who cleverly disguised his shot as a cross.
Barbosa, as he later said, was sentence to be a condemned man by the emotional Brazilian population for his life for that one error. He was a great shot-stopper and had actually won the Copa America the previous year with him keeping a clean sheet and Brazil beating Paraguay 7-0 in the final.
His story tells you how football is a game of transcendental moments and how thankless the keeper's job is.
#8 Marcos
Marcos Roberto Silveira Reis won everything there was to win as part of a brilliant Brazil team that had the likes of Ronaldo and Rivaldo tearing defences apart. He won the Copa America, the World Cup (2002) and the Confederations Cup as part of the Selecao team and was one of Palmerias' greatest ever player, named Saint Palmeiras by the club faithful.
He was only the first choice for the Japan-Korea World Cup and played as back-up in the other two triumphs. While Marcos was solid in the 2002 World Cup, keeping 4 clean sheets, he rarely played for the Selecao after the World Cup, with injuries blighting his later career.
#7 Julio Cesar
Julio Cesar has had a glittering club career in Europe, unlike some others on this list, winning the Champions League during a seven-year spell with Inter Milan. He was also capped 87 times by Brazil and regularly went to global tournaments with them, playing for them in three World Cups.
Cesar was also a 2009 Ballon'D'Or nominee and was declared the Serie A goalkeeper of the year twice and the UEFA goalkeeper of the year once. However, in some ways, his club career eclipsed his achievements with Brazil, though he won both the Copa America and the Confederations Cup.
He was the ill-fated man between the sticks when Germany slammed 7 past the hapless Brazilians when the two sides met for a World Cup semi-final in 2014.
#6 Ederson
One of two current goalkeepers on this list, Ederson typifies the new breed of top shot-stoppers. Good with his feet and with great anticipation and physical presence, Ederson has become the pillar on which the current great Manchester City side is built. City famously build from the back and Ederson is often touted as the best distributor of the ball.
Having won all the domestic trophies that can be won with City, Ederson will be hopeful of finally triumphing on the European stage with the Cityzens, especially if a certain Argentinian joins their ranks!
However, the presence of Alisson Becker has resulted in him playing second fiddle for the Brazil national team at the moment.
#5 Rogerio Ceni
A Sao Paulo legend with whom he won 20 titles, Rogerio Ceni would have played a much more central role for the Brazil national team had it not been for the presence of more illustrious rivals for that single spot.
Ceni also holds the record for scoring the most goals by a keeper (most of them set-pieces)- 131 and turned out 16 times for the national team and was part of the squad in major tournaments. One of his career's highest points was when Sao Paulo defeated Liverpool 1-0 to win the Club World Cup in 2005, with him being at his shot-stopping best.
He was also part of the Brazil team that won the 2002 World Cup.
#4 Dida
Dida won the World Cup as a reserve in 2002 before taking his place as the No.1 goalie of the Brazil national team for the 2006 World Cup. Dida was a solid presence between the sticks for Brazil, picking up 91 caps and two Confederations Cups and a Copa America for the Selecao.
Dida is another top Brazilian keeper who eked out a very successful club career in Europe. He is the only keeper on this list to have won two Champions League titles with AC Milan as well as the Scudetto. He was also named the FIFPro best goalkeeper of the year in 2005, Dida was one of the greatest shotstoppers of his era and very adept at saving penalties.
#3 Alisson Becker
Regarded by many as the most complete keeper in the world right now, Alisson Becker, much like Ederson at City, has been part of a revolution at Liverpool.
He is one of the pillars on which the EPL champions Liverpool have built their all-conquering squad and his acquisition by Jurgen Klopp from Roma has helped transform the Reds defensively.
His positioning and shot-stopping is regarded as the best in the world by many experts and he has won multiple honours with both club and country. Alisson won the Best FIFA Goalkeeper award in 2019 as well the Yashin Trophy.
Having won the Copa America 2019 with Brazil and the UEFA Champions League, Premier League and the Club World Cup with the Reds, Allison has already achieved a lot in his career so far. The man from Novo Hamburgo will be hopeful of adding many more titles before retiring.
#2 Claudio Taffarel
A true Brazil national team great, Claudio Taffarel was capped 104 times by the Selecao and played a sterling role in Brazil winning the 1994 World Cup trophy, with the team triumphing in a tense penalty shootout over Italy in the final.
Four years later, the keeper would again reach the final with the team, only to be denied by the brilliance of a certain Zinedine Zidane.
He served the national team excellently for a long period and also won two Copa Americas for the team and is also an Olympic silver medallist.
Taffarel's league career is often overlooked but he had illustrious trophy-winning spells in both Italy and Turkey.
#1 Gilmar
There can be little argument about putting Gylmar dos Santos Neves (Gilmar), on top of this list. The Brazil legend was instrumental in the Selecao winning two consecutive World Cups in 1958 and 1962 and was a brilliant keeper at the club level as well.
He was a hero for both Santos and Corinthians, winning numerous titles at both the clubs. At Santos (with Pele) he went on to win the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup as well, thus effectively becoming a Club World Champion as well as FIFA World Cup Champion.
Possibly the most successful goalkeeper of his era, Gilmar was renowned for his reflexes, agility, composure and calmness under pressure. Gilmar was voted the best Brazilian goalkepeer of the 20th century and one of the best keepers of the world in that era by IFFHS. He was also awarded the FIFA Order of Merit in 1998.
Quite simply put, Gilmar is the greatest Brazilian Goalkeeper of all time
