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Super Eagles' Nwabali, Okoye, and Onana miss Top 100 goalkeepers list led by Donnarumma, Sommer, Courtois. Nigeria's Noah Atubolu ranks 94th. No Africans are in the top 100.
The CIES Football Observatory has released its ranking of the 100 best-performing goalkeepers in the world over the past year, and notably, no African goalkeepers, including Nigeria’s Super Eagles stars Stanley Nwabali, Maduka Okoye, and Manchester United’s André Onana, made the cut.
The index evaluated goalkeepers based on the level of matches played, game results, and save percentages compared to expected values, with a minimum requirement of 20 domestic league matches.
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Topping the list is Paris Saint-Germain’s Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, followed by Inter Milan’s Swiss veteran Yann Sommer and Real Madrid’s Belgian star Thibaut Courtois.
The top five is rounded out by FK Krasnodar’s 23-year-old Russian Stanislav Agkatsev and Brentford’s Mark Flekken.
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Agkatsev and Brazilian veteran Joao Ricardo of Fortaleza EC are the only two goalkeepers from outside Europe’s big five leagues to crack the top ten, both praised for exceeding expected save percentages.
While no African goalkeepers featured in the ranking, Nigeria-eligible Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, a 22-year-old German-born talent on the Super Eagles’ radar, secured the 94th spot with a score of 65.7%.
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Atubolu’s inclusion marks a bright note for Nigerian football, though the absence of established stars Nwabali and Okoye will raise eyebrows among fans.
The CIES methodology emphasises save efficiency and match context, which may explain the omission of high-profile names like Onana, who has faced scrutiny for errors at Manchester United, and Nwabali and Okoye, who have yet to consistently dominate at their clubs.
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The average age of the top 100 goalkeepers is 29.9 years, with Ajax’s 41.4-year-old Remko Pasveer the oldest and youngsters Ármin Pécsi (20.1, Puskás Akadémia) and Slawomir Abramowicz (20.8, Jagiellonia Bialystok) the youngest.
Chelsea loanee Djordje Petrović, playing at RC Strasbourg, is the only goalkeeper under 26 in the top 20 besides Agkatsev.
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As the Super Eagles prepare for upcoming international fixtures, the lack of representation in this prestigious list may spark discussions about the state of goalkeeping in Nigerian football.
It is left to be seen if the new coach, Eric Chelle, who has promised to invite new faces when Nigeria faces Ghana in the Unity Cup next month, will look towards Atubolu to shake up the goalkeeping department.
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