by Ben Carey (26/8/23)
Above: Mackenzie Arnold roars in celebration after the win against Ireland. Photo: Football Australia.
Mackenzie Arnold’s performance in the Matildas’ quarterfinal match against France rightfully earned her the Player of the Match award. Her crucial saves kept Australia in the game against a fierce opposition. But Arnold is just one of many goalkeepers who put in remarkable performances for their countries and significantly shaped the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Most of the time, when a team wins a match, the forwards and midfielders get all the glory. It’s true, they are the ones who win matches, but it is the defenders and goalkeepers who prevent their team from losing matches, which is equally as important. Often the efforts of goalkeepers go unnoticed, but the exceptional performances of keepers in the 2023 Women’s World Cup have forced players, spectators, and analysts alike to take note.
Goalkeepers in this World Cup took home nine of the 64 Player of the Match awards. That’s the most, by a fair margin, of any Women’s World Cup. According to the FIFA technical reports, this is how many goalkeepers have received a Player of the Match award at each World Cup: France 2019 (four), Canada 2015 (six), Germany 2011 (three), China 2007 (three), USA 2003 (three).
It’s important to note that the 2019 and 2015 editions featured 24 teams and consisted of 52 matches. Furthermore, the 2011, 2007, and 2003 editions featured 16 teams and consisted of 32 matches. Even still, taken as a percentage, the 2023 Women’s World Cup still comes out on top: 2023 Australia/New Zealand (14%), Canada 2015 (12%), China 2007 (9%), USA 2003 (9%), Germany 2011 (9%), 2019 France (8%).
The 2023 Women’s World Cup has been a global goalkeeping showcase. The winners of the Player of the Match award have been very geographically diverse, coming from five different continents.
Chiamaka Nnadozie (Nigeria), Olivia McDaniel (Philippines), Gaëlle Thalmann (Switzerland), Courtney Brosnan (Ireland), Rebecca Spencer (Jamaica), Daphne van Domselaar (Netherlands), Zećira Mušović (Sweden), Mary Earps (England), and Mackenzie Arnold (Australia). Further, Daniela Solera (Costa Rica) made the most saves in this World Cup with 22. This shows that not only are goalkeepers among the best players in each team, but that the quality of goalkeeping is exceptional throughout the world.
While there have been many great goalkeepers throughout this World Cup, here are a handful that were truly extraordinary.
Mary Earps (England)
Earlier this year Earps won the FIFA Best Women’s Goalkeeper award, and this World Cup she backed it up with the Golden Glove award. Throughout the tournament she kept three clean sheets.
Against Nigeria, Earps made two big saves and prevented 17 goals from being scored. Against Colombia, she made another two saves and prevented 15 goals. But it was her performance in her first-ever World Cup final that was the most impressive. Despite England’s loss, Earps kept them in it until the death, making four huge saves, including a penalty from Jennifer Hermoso, one of the deadliest strikers in the world. In total, she prevented 14 goals from being scored. A Golden Glove-worthy performance.
Mackenzie Arnold (Australia)
Arnold kept four clean sheets, which was the most of any goalkeeper this tournament. But the most impressive aspect of this feat is the quality of the opposition she achieved it against, including Denmark, France, and Olympic Gold Medallists Canada. Against Canada, she made three saves and prevented 11 goals. Against Denmark, she made another three saves and prevented 13 goals. But it was against France in the quarterfinals that Arnold put in a career-defining performance making five saves and preventing 20 goals during regular time.
Her heroics did not end there. During the penalty shootout, Arnold saved two penalties and gifted Australia with two chances to win the match. The first was an incredible diving, fingertip save, which tipped Eve Périsset’s shot onto the side post. Arnold then stepped up to take the vital fifth penalty. If she had scored she would have won the match for Australia. She didn’t convert the kick, but she had the belief and confidence to try.
More impressively, she then took her place in goal again and maintained her composure. Seven kicks later, Arnold made another top save against Dali, but VAR ruled that she was off her line and Dali took the kick again. Phenomenally, Arnold kept her cool and saved Dali’s penalty again, which gifted Australia with their second chance to win the match. Absolute nerves of steel.
Zećira Mušović (Sweden)
Mušović’s performance against the four-time world champions, USA, was quite simply astounding. She made 11 saves and prevented 21 goals from world-class forwards Alex Morgan, Sophia Smith, and Trinity Rodman, who came at her for 120 minutes. Sweden was significantly outplayed in that match, but Mušović singlehandedly carried them to a penalty shootout, which her country won.
Chiamaka Nnadozie (Nigeria)
Nnadozie held a clean sheet in three out of Nigeria’s four matches. If that wasn’t impressive enough, she did it against world-class opponents Ireland, Canada, and England.
Against Canada, Nnadozie prevented 15 goals, including a penalty save from the all-time global leading goal scorer, Christine Sinclair. Against England, Nnadozie prevented 12 goals against some of the best forwards in the world, such as Alessia Russo, Lauren Hemp, and Lauren James. The only match she conceded in was against Australia, where she made six saves and prevented a whopping 28 goals, which was enough to upset the heavy favourites.
Rebecca Spencer (Jamaica)
Spencer also held a clean sheet in three out of Jamaica’s four matches. Two of those opponents were France and Brazil, heavyweights in the women’s game. Against France, Spencer prevented 13 goals from world-class forwards the likes of Kadidiatou Diani and Eugénie Le Sommer. Against Brazil, Spencer prevented 17 goals from attacking threats including Kerolin, Debinha, Ary Borges—who scored a hat-trick the week before against Panama—and Women’s World Cup all-time top goal scorer, Marta. Spencer only conceded once in the whole tournament. Sadly, that one goal would send Jamaica home.
Daphne van Domselaar (Netherlands)
Van Domselaar kept a clean sheet in three out of the Netherlands’ five matches. Her most impressive performance was against four-time world champions, USA, where she made two crucial saves and prevented 19 goals. Netherlands ended up losing in a tight match against eventual World Cup winners, Spain, but van Domselaar performed superbly during that match as well, making six saves and preventing 26 goals.
Alyssa Naeher (USA)
Naeher kept a clean sheet in three out of the USA’s four matches. Naeher, like Spencer, only conceded once in the tournament, and that was against a strong Dutch side. While Naeher did not have anywhere near as many saves or goal preventions as her counterparts from other nations, she made history as the first goalkeeper to take and convert a penalty in the Men’s or Women’s World Cup. What an achievement.
Still a long way to go
FIFA has awarded the Golden Ball award, for the best overall player of the tournament, and the Golden Boot award, for the top goal scorer in the tournament, since the first Women’s World Cup in 1991. However, the Golden Glove award, for the best goalkeeper, has only been awarded since 2003. That in itself shows how little attention FIFA paid to goalkeepers during the early days of women’s football.
While it’s wonderful that goalkeepers are receiving more attention, there’s still a long way to go. Kit manufacturing giants Nike and Adidas chose not to produce any goalkeeper jerseys for the Women’s World Cup.
After Arnold’s amazing performance against France in the quarterfinals, she found herself with a lot of new fans, many of them outraged because they couldn’t buy her jersey. Sadly, this is a global issue. Before the tournament, Nike didn’t even sell a Mary Earps Lionesses jersey. Earps said, “It is a huge problem, and it is a scary message that is being sent to goalkeepers worldwide, that you are not important.”
Hopefully, this World Cup is a turning point for goalkeepers around the world. There is an online petition aimed at getting Nike and Adidas to sell female goalkeeper kits that currently has over 150,000 signatures.
While it was too late to have an impact on the 2023 Women’s World Cup, it seems to be inspiring positive change after the tournament. Nike announced recently that they will sell limited England, USA, France, and Netherlands jerseys in response to the outcry. While Matildas’ fans still can’t get their hands on an Arnold jersey yet, it is definitely a step in the right direction. Hopefully, this nudges Nike and Adidas to champion female goalkeepers the way they should. Only time will tell.
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