Yann Sommer has kept 94 clean sheets for the Swiss national team. No goalkeeper in SFA history has played more often. Is Sommer also the best goalkeeper we've ever had?
The Nati goalie ranking from blue Sport
2012 - 2024
1 – Yann Sommer
Sommer was one of the defining figures in the most successful national team of all time. After the 2014 World Cup, he replaced Diego Benaglio as number 1 and kept his regular place for ten years, despite fierce competition from Roman Bürki and Gregor Kobel, among others. 94 games, 35 of them with a clean sheet. Unforgotten: His heroics in the round of 16 of the 2021 European Championship against France - including a save in the penalty shoot-out against Kylian Mbappé.
2006 - 2014
2 – Diego Benaglio
27 clean sheets in 61 appearances is top. Benaglio was less fortunate at the finals, however. He was knocked out of the preliminary rounds of the 2008 European Championship and the 2010 World Cup and even missed out on the 2012 European Championship. In 2014, however, Benaglio came close to helping Switzerland reach the World Cup quarter-finals, but the national team was ultimately beaten by Argentina in extra time.
1958 - 1966
3 – Karl «Charly» Elsener
At the 1962 World Cup, Elsener was voted the best goalkeeper of the World Cup by journalists - even though Switzerland lost all three of their group matches. "Charly national" played 34 times in the national team goal. He died of pneumonia in 2010.
1994 - 2008
4 – Pascal Zuberbühler
The current blue Sport expert reached his peak at the 2006 World Cup, when Zubi was the only goalkeeper not to concede a single goal. He only had to concede defeat in the penalty shoot-out of the round of 16 against Ukraine, after Zuberbühler initially saved top star Andriy Shevchenko's attempt. He played his last match at the 2008 European Championship against Portugal - and did not concede a goal.
1973 - 1986
5 – Erich Burgener
Burgener kept the Swiss goal 64 times. Only Yann Sommer made more appearances as a goalkeeper. In his 13 years in the national team, however, Switzerland never made it to a World Cup or European Championship.
1965 - 1973
6 – Mario Prosperi
The Ticino goalkeeping legend made 21 appearances for Switzerland. He made his greatest appearance in the 1971 European Championship qualifier against England, when he helped the national team to a 1-1 draw in front of 90,000 spectators at Wembley.
1939 - 1947
7 – Erwin Ballabio
The man from Grenchen was able to demonstrate his skills time and again in the 1940s. But Ballabio was unlucky: there were no World Cups in 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War. Between 1967 and 1969, Ballabio coached the national team for 12 more matches. He died in 2008 at the age of 89.
2000 - 2004
8 – Jörg Stiel
Perhaps not the best, but probably the most entertaining goalkeeper in the history of the national team. Stiel will never forget how he stopped a ball with his head in front of the line against Croatia at the 2004 European Championship.
1952 - 1960
9 – Eugène Parlier
The Frenchman was in goal for the 5:7 against Austria at the 1954 World Cup. It remains the highest-scoring match at a World Cup to this day. That doesn't necessarily speak well for Parlier, who suffered heatstroke during the game. Otherwise, he performed well in the national team goal for 21 games. Parlier died in 2017 at the age of 88.
1992 - 2001
10 – Marco Pascolo
Switzerland made it back to a major tournament at the 1994 World Cup for the first time in 28 years thanks in part to a strong Pascolo in the qualifiers. The man from Valais played 55 games for the national team, keeping 18 clean sheets.
