England goalkeeper Robert Green became the latest goalkeeper to blunder at a World Cup when he let Clint Dempsey’s shot slip through his gloves in a 1-1 draw with the United States on Saturday.
England keepers feature prominently on this list but it does also include the likes of Germany’s Oliver Kahn and flamboyant Colombian Rene Higuita.
Following is a list of some of the more notable goalkeeper mistakes at World Cup level.
1970: England’s Peter Bonetti dives over Franz Beckenbauer’s shot, which starts West Germany’s comeback from 2-0 down to a 3-2 quarterfinal victory.
1986: In the final between Argentina and Germany, Harald Schumacher completely misjudges a cross, allowing Argentina’s Jose Luis Brown to score the opening goal in the South Americans’ 3-2 victory.
1990: Colombia’s Rene Higuita loses the ball in midfield to Cameroon legend Roger Milla, who goes on to score in his team’s 2-1 round of 16 victory.
1998: Record Spain international Andoni Zubizarreta deflects a cross into his own net in a 3-2 defeat against Nigeria.
2002: England goalkeeper David Seaman is caught off his line by Ronaldinho as the Brazilian scores the 2-1 winner with a long-range free-kick.
2002: After almost single-handedly leading Germany into the final against Brazil, Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn fails to control a modest shot from Rivaldo, which allows Ronaldo to tap home for the opening goal in Brazil’s 2-0 victory.
