🏆 Ballon d'OneFootball: Our countdown begins with 25th place ... | OneFootball

Welcome to the third annual edition of the Ballon d’OneFootball.

Over the coming weeks, we will be counting down the top 25 players in the world, as voted for by our editors.

And today we have …

25th: Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid and Belgium

(New entry)

Unlike the real Ballon d’Or, the mantle of world’s best goalkeeper is one which gets passed around quite a lot.

In recent years, the likes of Manuel Neuer, Alisson, Ederson, Jan Oblak, Edouard Mendy, David de Gea and others have all staked a claim for the title.

But, right now, you could make a formidable argument for the best goalkeeper on the planet being Thibaut Courtois.

The Belgian has played a major role in Real Madrid’s LaLiga title tilt in 2021/22 and it seems barely a match goes by when he isn’t responsible for at least one outstanding save.

A recent 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano summed Courtois up. He is always there to pull off a stunning save — or three, in that case — when Real Madrid need it most.

The Belgian was single-handedly responsible for keeping Real Madrid in the game as they lost 1-0 to PSG at the Parc des Princes last month, with a penalty save against Lionel Messi to add to his collection. The Argentine has still never scored against Courtois as Real Madrid goalkeeper.

Standing at two metres tall, Courtois has a habit of making the goal look small, but also surprising agility and reflexes for a man of his considerable stature.

It is almost a decade since he was the young goalkeeper with huge promise in Atlético Madrid’s 2011/12 title-winning team but now 29, it feels like Courtois is at the peak of his powers with plenty years at the top still ahead of him.