The highest scoring goalkeepers of all time

Say what you like about steady goalkeepers with safe hands, good communication skills and cat-like reflexes, there's nothing quite like an eccentric shot-stopper.

Someone who keeps you on the edge of your seat for 90 minutes, knowing full well he could produce an absolutely unbelievable save at any minute, but equally could drop a complete clanger - it might not be relaxing but it's fun.

There are some goalkeepers, however, who take 'eccentric' to a whole new level. Not content with standing between the sticks and being called into action every now and again, they want to be in the thick of it as much as possible, so much so that they take as much satisfaction from scoring goals as they do stopping them.

2021 has already seen two goalkeepers on the scoresheet, with Newport County's Tom King and Eibar's Marko Dmitrovic both opening their respective career accounts.

So, with goalscoring goalkeepers apparently normal in 2021, let's take a look at the top scoring goalkeepers of all time.

10. Fernando Patterson - 26 goals

Chances are you've never heard of Fernando Patterson.

The Costa Rican goalkeeper retired in 2013 having spent the majority of his playing days in Guatemala with Xelaju. Don't think of him as a loyal servant though, he had five different spells with the club.

He notched 26 goals over his 24-year career, most of which came for
Xelaju between 1999-2001 where he scored an impressive 13 in just two seasons. Prolific.

9. Dragan Pantelic - 26 goals

Dragan Pantelic also notched 26 goals in his career, including 15 for Serbian outfit Radnicki Nis having averaged more than a goal-per-season in his time with the club.

Perhaps even more impressively, Pantelic went on to represent Yugoslavia on 19 occasions, scoring twice in the process!

He didn't score all his goals came from the penalty spot either. He once bagged the winning goal from inside his own penalty area in a fixture between Radnicki Nis and Velez Mostar.

8. Misael Alfaro - 31 goals

Misael Alfaro is another who didn't just rely on penalty kicks to boost his goalscoring tally.

The Salvadoran goalkeeper found the back of the net 31 times and only 11 of those goals came via penalties.

Despite enjoying an impressive 22-year career, Alfaro would likely have added to his 31-goal tally was he not forced to retire due to neck and heart problems.

7. Hans-Jorg Butt - 32 goals

While many of the names in this list may go straight over your head, anyone with half an eye on European football will have heard the name Hans-Jorg Butt.

The former Germany international spent much of his career in the Bundesliga with Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen and latterly Bayern Munich.

He racked up 32 goals and even scored three times in the Champions League, all of which came against Juventus weirdly.

Despite his unbelievable scoring record in Europe's premier competition, he never managed to get his hands on the trophy, finishing as a runner up on three separate occasions, with Leverkusen in 2002 and with Bayern in 2010 and 2012.

6. Marcio - 34 goals

No self-respecting Brazilian footballer doesn't have a bit of flair to his game, and 34 goals from a goalkeeper definitely classes as 'flair'.

Marcio is the only player on this list still playing, so his tally could yet be on the rise. The 39-year-old has spent his full career in Brazil including nine years with Atletico Goianiens where he averaged a goal every 13 games. Joga bonito indeed.

5. Johnny Vegas Fernandez - 39 goals

Of Johnny Vegas Fernandez's 39 goals, 30 of them came from the penalty spot and nine from open play.

The majority of his goal haul came for Peruvian side Sport Boys having spent six years with the club, before he randomly decided to go on a tour of Peru by making 14 transfers in 13 years.

4. Rene Higuita - 41 goals

Now this is a name you definitely know.

It seems almost impossible that a goalkeeper can score 41 goals and yet that's not the thing he's best known for - we are of course referring to his famous scorpion kick against England at Wembley.

But enough about that, back to his prolific streak.

Rene Higuita even scored three for Colombia, the last of which came in 1989 against Venezuela in the Copa America.

3. Dimitar Ivankov - 42 goals

The top scoring European on our list.

Dimitar Ivankov was a regular on the scoresheet during his nine years with Bulgarian side Levski Sofia, before moving onto Turkey where he proved just as prolific. He retired in 2011 with 42 goals to his name.

Ivankov picked up his fair share of silverware during his time in Bulgaria and is now the goalkeeping coach at former club Levski.

2. Jose Luis Chilavert - 67 goals

Jose Luis Chilavert notched double figures two seasons in a row! Some strikers go their whole career without ever managing to do that.

In 1996/97 and 1997/98 Chilly scored a combined total of 23 goals for Argentine outfit Vélez Sarsfield. The goalkeeper scored for every single one of the eight teams he made an appearance for in his career, including notching a fairly astonishing eight in 74 appearances for Paraguay thanks to his ability with free kicks and penalties.

The iconic shot-stopper also remains to this day the only goalkeeper to have ever scored a hat-trick.

1. Rogerio Ceni - 131 goals

Almost DOUBLE the tally of second place.

Rogerio Ceni may not be the most instantly recognisable name in the top ten, but he's certainly the most prolific.

Other than a brief spell with Brazilian side Sinop as a teenager, Ceni spent his whole career with Sao Paulo, retiring in 2015 with a whopping 131 goals.

He reached double figures three years in a row between 2005-2007 - scoring 47 goals in that period - and he's now manager at Flamengo.