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The FIFA World Cup is the biggest football carnival and the latest edition is all set to kick off in Russia. The top 32 teams of world football have landed with their full strength 23-man squads, barring unfortunate injuries. It's every football player's ambition to wear his country's jersey and sing the national anthem proudly and take the field to represent the country. The dream in the end will be to lift the World Cup on July 15th.
The goalkeeper is the most underrated and least noticed player on the football pitch and his excellence often tends to go under the radar. The goalkeeper is the guardian of the team's goal and is the man who keeps the opposition at bay and his team in the game.
Each of the squads head into the World Cup with 3 goalkeepers in the squad but unlike outfield players, who get rotated as substitutes, only one goalkeeper plays for the country with the other two left to watch proceedings from the bench.
Few of the top international sides boast two or maybe even three top keepers, who would find a spot in the lesser ranked international sides, however, it would be highly unlikely that they would be able to get into the eleven once the tournament begins.
Bad errors, suspensions or injuries are the only way a substitute keeper can find a place in the eleven in this tournament, and it's not something they would ideally wish for to get into the starting XI.
In this article, we take a look at the top 'substitute keepers of the FIFA World Cup, who would have to watch their team take the field from the bench.
#7 Lukas Fabianski (Poland)
Woijceich Szczesny and Lukas Fabianski are pretty close friends from their time together at London club Arsenal. The two keepers were fighting for the same spot at Arsenal and Szczesny was manager Arsene Wenger's preferred choice, until disciplinary reasons saw him moved out of the club, while Fabianski established himself as Arsenal's number one.
Despite Szczesny's departure from Arsenal, their rivalry continued on the international stage. Fabianski, who was clearly the second choice until Euro 2016, quickly moved himself into fan's hearts with his fabulous performances in Szczesny's absence. The World Cup qualification saw appearances split between the two.
The rivalry will be renewed at the World Cup in Russia, with both men standing an equal opportunity of taking the position between the sticks. Szczesny's position at Juventus and also being the senior of the two might just tilt the scales in his favour.
It will be interesting to see who Polish manager Adam Nawalka opts to start with in their opener against Senegal, but it's likely that Fabianski will take a place on the bench.
#6 Steve Mandanda (France)
Steve Mandanda has remained French club Marseille's first-choice keeper for the past decade, however, the 33-year old has remained the second-choice keeper for his national team France due to the presence of skipper Hugo Lloris.
Mandanda has made 28 appearances for Les Bleus, a vast majority of those coming when Lloris was given a rest. He will remain an understudy to French captain Hugo Lloris in this World Cup too.
#5 Simon Mignolet (Belgium)
Simon Mignolet was Belgium's first-choice keeper when he made his debut in 2011, however, Thibaut Courtois quickly dislodged his senior colleague quickly after moving to Atletico Madrid. Since then, Mignolet has largely been rooted to the bench and has only been called up on a rotational basis.
Unconvincing performances since moving to Liverpool have meant that Mignolet has failed to provide adequate competition to Courtois. This would mean that Mignolet will continue to spend his time on the bench in Russia.
#4 Roman Burki (Switzerland)
Roman Burki's move to the Bundesliga turned out to be the turning point of his career. After a season at Freiburg, the Swiss keeper was bought by Borussia Dortmund as a replacement for ageing club captain Roman Weidenfeller. The 27-year old has been the first choice goalkeeper for Dortmund over the past three seasons.
Yet, Burki has been unable to dislodge Borussia Monchengladbach keeper Yan Sommer from the number one position at Switzerland.
Burki might have to spend the tournament watching from the bench unless, Sommer has a difficult time on the pitch or struggles with fitness issues.
#3 Pepe Reina (Spain)
Pepe Reina is one of the most unluckiest goalkeepers in the world.
Despite having made his debut in 2005, Reina has only accumulated 38 appearances for his country. The Liverpool favorite was a regular at the Anfield club but was always behind the likes of Iker Casilas and David de Gea in the pecking order. After a few difficult final seasons at Liverpool, Reina has found his feet again in Napoli.
The long serving 35-year old keeper will start of as the understudy to De Gea at the World Cup in Russia.
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#2 Ederson (Brazil)
One of the major shortcomings for Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side last season was the lack of a top-quality goalkeeper. Ederson was signed from Benfica at a massive transfer fee, which made him the second most expensive goalkeeper in the game. There were question marks but Ederson answered them in scintillating fashion.
While the Manchester City attackers grabbed all the plaudits, Ederson's poise and skill at creating attacks from the back caught the keen observer's eye. The distance that he gets with his throws and kicks are quite insane and he recently even broke the Guinness record for the longest drop-kick in football.
It's incredible that despite all this, he will begin as Brazil's number two, behind Allison Becker. Allison himself had a sensational season that has led to talks of him becoming the costliest goalkeeper signing ever, with the signing likely to be completed after the World Cup.
#1 Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany)
It's a testament to Germany's bench strength that they have Marc-Andre ter Stegen starting on the bench.
Ter Stegen is one of the contenders for the best goalkeeper of the season, after a fantastic campaign with Barcelona, where he saved crucial points in spite of a porous Catalan defense. The 26-year old's distribution skills as a goalkeeper are also top-notch.
Ter Stegen is ahead of Manuel Neuer on form, especially since the latter was ruled out for most of the season due to serious injury issues. Either way, Germany have taken the call to start with the trusted lieutenant Neuer at the back.
If Neuer's injuries do hit back in Russia, however, Ter Stegen will immediately be called back into the team, but until then, he'll have to be patient with a place on the German bench.
