It’s not just Bounou: Barthez and Shilton, undisputed masters of the clean sheet
HIBAPRESS-RABAT-FIFA
There is debate over where the term ‘clean sheet’ came from and when it first appeared, but there is no doubt about the two men who have kept the most clean sheets in major competitions. One played in the pre-digital era, when matchdays were scribbled on paper; the other in more recent times.
In what is perhaps the only link between the two cities, Leicester and Lavelanet are the birthplaces of the two greatest collectors of clean sheets (matches without conceding a goal) in FIFA World Cup™ history. Peter Shilton, a grocer’s son who as a child would hang from the rafters of his father’s shop to stretch his arms, and Fabien Barthez, the bon vivant and motor racing enthusiast, are the only men in the tournament’s history to have kept 10 clean sheets.
From his first clean sheet in Bilbao at Spain 1982 to his last in Bologna at Italy 1990, Shilton has shone at three FIFA World Cups. For a start, England’s most capped player, described by his former team-mate Mick Channon as unbeatable in training, was almost invincible in his first World Cup on Spanish soil.
In the opening match between England and France in 1982 (3-1), Gérard Soler managed to beat the then 32-year-old goalkeeper, but he was the only one to do so. Czechoslovakia (2-0), Kuwait (1-0), West Germany (0-0) and hosts Spain (0-0) all failed to break through Shilton’s shield. But England were eliminated in the second group stage, having not lost any of the five matches played in Spain.
Four years later, in Mexico, Shilton and England suffered a late 1-0 defeat to Portugal before holding Morocco 0-0 and beating Poland 3-0 in their subsequent group games. Another clean sheet from Shilton, his seventh in a World Cup, would follow in a 3-0 win over Paraguay in the round of 16, but the next clean sheet would have to wait.
Little did he know, he was about to take part in one of the most memorable matches of the World Cup. In the boiling cauldron of Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, Shilton fell victim to the ‘Hand of God’ and then witnessed Diego Maradona’s seismic second goal.
A goalless draw against the Netherlands (0–0) in the second group match at Italy 1990 saw Shilton equal Dutch star Jan Jongbloed, Brazilian Emerson Leão and German Sepp Maier on eight clean sheets. He would go on to set the record and extend it with clean sheets against Egypt (1–0) and Belgium (1–0 aet). Three games later, in Bari, Shilton’s glittering international career ended with England losing 2–1 to Italy in the third-place play-off.
Born eight months after the start of the famous England goalkeeper’s international career, Fabien Barthez will become the only man to equal his record of 10 World Cup matches without conceding a goal.
In a magical first tournament, at home in 1998, the only thing Barthez couldn’t stop was Laurent Blanc’s embrace before matches. In the group stage, South Africa (3-0) and Saudi Arabia (4-0) couldn’t beat the Divine Bald One, nor could Paraguay (1-0, beo) or Italy (0-0 aet, 4 tabs to 3) in the knockout stage, nor Brazil in the final (3-0).
The new motorsport star had achieved half Shilton’s number of clean sheets in a single tournament. Four years later, at the 2002 Korea/Japan tournament, he would take that number to six in a disastrous contest that saw the reigning champions crash out in the group stage.
After facing stiff competition for the starting spot, Barthez found himself in goal again for France at Germany 2006, where he kept clean sheets against Switzerland (0-0) and Togo (2-0), taking him closer to Shilton’s record.
After eliminating Brazil in the quarter-finals (1-0) and Portugal in the semi-finals (1-0), the Lion King fanatic goalkeeper got closer to his English counterpart. He would leave it at that, his last act being to dive on the wrong side when Fabio Grosso won the penalty shootout for Italy in this dramatic final in Berlin (1-1 aet, 5 pens to 3).
Like Shilton 16 years earlier, Barthez ended his international career after a defeat to Italy in the dying moments of a World Cup finals. Both men’s final acts on the world stage were to concede a decisive penalty against the Azzurri. They also remain linked as the greatest collectors of clean sheets the World Cup has ever seen.
