Sport
Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper nominees: Berger, Coll, Earps, Naeher & Yamashita
Five of football's best goalkeepers – Berger, Coll, Earps, Naeher and Yamashita – have been shortlisted for the award.
Ann-Katrin Berger, Cata Coll, Mary Earps, Alyssa Naeher and Ayaka Yamashita have been confirmed as the five nominees for the Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper Award 2024.
Fans can now vote on who they think should win the award, which recognizes the achievements of goalkeepers between August 21, 2023 and August 10, 2024.
Here, FIFA profiles each of the five nominees and their performances during the qualifying period.
Ann-Katrin Berger
Berger's first podium finish was a story of hard work and determination. The German shot-stopper has twice beaten cancer and returns to the top level of the sport, continuing to shine for club and country.
She made five league appearances for Chelsea as Zecira Musovic's understudy in 23/24, helping the Blues to a fifth consecutive Women's Super League (WSL) title. The 34-year-old then moved to NJ/NY Gotham FC, where her imperious form helped the Bats to the play-offs.
On the international stage, Berger impressed at the Olympic women's football tournament in Paris in July and August, keeping three clean sheets as Germany took home bronze.
Cata Coll
The meteoric rise of Barcelona and Spain stopper Coll shows no signs of slowing down as she furthered her status as one of the world's leading goalkeepers during the qualifying period.
In December 2023, she kept goal as Spain won the first UEFA Women's Nations League in Seville. The success on the club scene continued, with Barça winning a domestic treble and Coll keeping 12 clean sheets in Liga F. Her four shutouts were also the best in the league in the Blaugrana UEFA Women's Champions League success.
Maria Earps
At the Best FIFA Football Awards 2023, Earps became the first goalkeeper to ever win the goalkeeping award twice following her performances the year before. Now the current Paris Saint-Germain stopper is chasing a historic hat-trick of trophy wins.
Her path to the podium was decorated by her performances for former Manchester United. She kept seven clean sheets in the WSL, good for second in the division, and added a further three in the FA Cup, including one in the final, as the Red Devils beat Tottenham 4–0 to lift the trophy won for the first time. time.
Alyssa Naeher
No goalkeeper kept more clean sheets at the Olympic women's soccer tournament than Naeher, as her four shutouts – including all three knockout matches – helped the US regain gold for the first time in 12 years and return them to first place in FIFA. /Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking.
It wasn't just Paris where Naeher, who announced her retirement from the US in November, showed her class. She also kept four clean sheets in America's Concacaf W Gold Cup win, saving three penalties and converting one herself in the semi-final victory over Canada. She was rightly named in the best XI of the competition and bagged the Golden Glove.
Ayaka Yamashita
Yamashita ended three years at INAC Kobe by playing her part in their Empress's Cup victory, saving a penalty in the shootout as they defeated Urawa Red Diamonds.
The Japanese stopper, who has since moved to Manchester City, was then one of a number of Nadeshiko players to impress in Paris 2024 as the AFC giants rose from a tough group to claim a stunning victory over Brazil.