A decisive, top-quality goalkeeper between the sticks is one of the crucial factors behind any successful promotion push, and a lot of Championship clubs will be thinking about this as the summer transfer window approaches the 2026/27 season.
Carl Rushworth was inspirational for Frank Lampard’s Coventry City as they romped to the Championship title with an eleven-point lead over second-placed Ipswich Town last season, whereas James Trafford produced perhaps the best second-tier goalkeeping campaign in history at Burnley during the 2023/24 season, conceding only 16 goals as the Clarets were immediately promoted back to the top flight.
Will the Championship produce a similar goalkeeping hero next season? The jury is still out, but there is no shortage of shot-stopping skill in the second tier, therefore Football League World has decided to rank the top NINE goalkeepers in the division right now.
9 Sam Johnstone
When new Wolves manager Cesar Peixoto arrived at Molineux to replace the surprisingly-sacked Rob Edwards, he was met with an embarrassment of goalkeeping riches, the depth of which is telling given that our first inclusion is unlikely to be the Portuguese manager’s first choice option.
Unlike the shot-stopper most likely to play for the Old Gold, Johnstone is incredibly experienced at Championship level, which is why the four-cap England international gets the nod here despite spending the last four years as second-in-command at Crystal Palace and Wolves.
Johnstone has appeared in over 200 second-tier games for Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion, first creating a reputation for himself on loan from Manchester United at Villa Park before establishing himself with the Baggies just down the road.
He was encouraged when the Villains reached the play-off final in 2018, and he went one step further by keeping 14 clean sheets as Albion won promotion in the 2019/20 season.
Johnstone may wonder if he stayed at the Hawthorns for too long, having found game time more difficult to come by after crossing the Black Country divide via Selhurst Park, where he appeared on just 12 occasions as Wolves were relegated last season, but his second-tier experience and international pedigree make the 33-year-old a must-have inclusion, outweighing his likely position in Peixoto’s pecking order.
8Michael Cooper
Michael Cooper, meanwhile, will be trying to improve on a lacklustre season with Sheffield United, having impressed the Bramall Lane faithful in his debut season after joining from Plymouth Argyle before suffering on occasion in a poor season for the Blades.
Cooper’s inspirational performances in his side’s run to the play-off final took a noticeable dip last time out, as he conceded 12 more goals and, more tellingly, amassed a save percentage of -6.75, a drop of more than ten from the previous campaign.
Cooper, on the other hand, should not be assessed just on the basis of one potentially subpar season, having established himself as a top EFL goalkeeper at Plymouth before moving to Sheffield.
Cooper, who is only 26 years old, still has plenty of time to improve and rise to the top of this list in the coming years. He possesses many of the fundamentals required to be a top goalkeeper, combining exquisite reflexes with assured distribution and a strong ability to command his area despite not being the tallest ‘keeper at 6’1.
7 Mads Hermansen
Mads Hermansen, who replaced Alphonse Areola in the second half of last season, is expected to retain his position as Nuno Espirito Santo’s first-choice between the sticks as he returns to the Championship two years after playing in Leicester City’s 2023/24 title-winning campaign under Enzo Maresca.
The Dane joined West Ham in a reported £20 million deal last summer following Leicester’s relegation and endured a nightmare start to life at the London Stadium, conceding eight goals in his first two matches before losing his place to Areola – but, having re-wrested it from the Frenchman’s clutches, Hermansen will be hoping to man the sticks in another promotion from the Championship next season.
He preserved three clean sheets in the Hammers’ final eight games as they were relegated, despite a less-than-impressive save percentage of -5.11 and a couple of high-profile blunders.
Hermansen, on the other hand, performed significantly better when Leicester won the league title two years ago, with his precise shot-stopping talents and assured delivery from the back making him a major hit under Maresca.
The Championship may be Hermansen’s current level, but it is precisely why FLW rates him as one of the league’s best goalkeepers.
6Jose Sa
Jose Sa, who spent his formative years in Portugal with Maritimo and FC Porto before going on to Olympaicos and then Wolves, is another member of the recently relegated contingent. He is the only goalkeeper on this list who has never played in the Championship.
The 33-year-old has top-level pedigree and nous in Peixoto’s ranks and appears to be first-choice following Edwards’ departure, despite losing his place behind Johnstone for stretches of last season.
Sa’s stock has probably dipped in recent years, after initially being one of the best-performing Premier League goalkeepers after moving to the West Midlands in 2021, where he has made 170 appearances to date.
At his peak, the veteran has kept the Old Gold in multiple games, providing a safe and reliable pair of hands while also having the ability to kick-start quick transitions with his long-range delivery.
Sa’s performances, like those of many of his Wolves teammates, have diminished in recent years, but the fact that he has been named to Portugal’s World Cup squad this summer demonstrates how much shot-stopping skill he still possesses.
Whether Peixoto sides with his fellow countryman or reinstates Johnstone, the Old Gold are in exceptionally good hands heading into 2026/27.
5Jacob Widell Zetterstrom
Derby County fans are unlikely to have heard of Jacob Widell Zetterstrom before he arrived from Djurgardens in the summer of 2024, but they are well aware of him now.
After a steady debut year in England as Derby battled relegation, Zetterstrom was high among the stats for many important metrics for a goalkeeper, such as being the sixth-best in the division in terms of save percentage in 2025-26 (according to Fotmob), third in saves per 90 minutes, and third in goals prevented, trailing only Carl Rushworth and Christian Walton.
The Swedish goalkeeper missed three months of play between January and April owing to sickness, but he returned for the final few games of the season; he will be a significant gain for Derby next season if he stays, as his contract at Pride Park expires in the summer of 2027.
Failure to reach an agreement on a new contract could lead to vultures swooping for Zetterstrom’s services; last season, Brentford and Nottingham Forest were linked, and they may return if there is contract uncertainty.
4Lawrence Vigouroux
When Swansea City recruited Lawrence Vigouroux from Burnley in 2024, they may not have expected the London-born Chilean to make such an impression in the two years following.
Vigouroux had previously played regularly for Leyton Orient in League Two before becoming a Burnley backup goalkeeper in 2023, but he quickly established himself as the Swans’ first-choice stopper under Luke Williams and has not lost that position since, appearing in all but one of the club’s 92 Championship games in the last two years.
Vigouroux was in the top five goalkeepers last season in terms of save %, saves per 90 minutes, and clean sheets, and despite his age, he shows no signs of slowing down, and he will be Vitor Matos’ man in 2026-27.
3Daniel Iversen
Daniel Iversen had been on Leicester City’s books since 2016, but it took until 2023 for the club to offer him a Premier League chance, following loan experiences at Oldham Athletic, Rotherham United, and Preston North End.
The Danish giant particularly impressed at PNE for a year and a half, and in March 2023, Brendan Rodgers finally handed him a top flight debut, and he remained in-between the sticks for the rest of the year – Enzo Maresca, however, did not fancy Iversen, and he was on the sidelines once more, experiencing another loan out at Stoke City for a few months before the 2024-25 season, in which he did not play a single minute of football.
A permanent move to Preston last summer, however, has re-energized Iversen, who saved the Lilywhites on numerous occasions in 2025-26 with fantastic saves, and when he was out injured for about two months, PNE’s form suffered.
Iversen was ninth in the save % rankings last season and tenth in goals stopped, but those stats may not tell the full picture – he is a great goalkeeper, and Premier League clubs will undoubtedly be looking at him.
2Daniel Peretz
Tonda Eckert was hired as Southampton manager in November 2025, succeeding Will Still, he had a goalkeeper problem: neither Gavin Bazunu nor Alex McCarthy impressed in goal, thus Daniel Peretz was signed in January.
The Israeli goalkeeper spent the first part of the season on the bench for Hamburg, but the Saints agreed with Bayern Munich to loan him in for the remainder of the season, and what a difference he has made.
With seven clean sheets in 20 regular-season games and only 18 goals conceded – less than one goal per game – Peretz instilled trust in the defenders in front of him.
Southampton, who is still in the Championship following the Spygate scandal, has managed to secure Peretz’s services on a permanent basis, and he is unquestionably going to be one of the top players in his position in the division based on the few months of evidence he accumulated in early 2026.
1Viktor Johansson
Viktor Johansson has remained in the Championship for several years now, despite expectations that he would move to a top-tier team in Europe – and Stoke City are quite fortunate.
Johansson was signed from Rotherham United after they were relegated to League One. He has been a model of consistency for the Potters over the last two seasons, and in his debut Championship season, he ranked second in the division for goals prevented and saves made per 90 minutes.
Injury limited the Swede to only 25 league appearances in 2025-26, but he still finished sixth in the division in goals avoided and second in save percentage, demonstrating how important he is to the proceedings at the bet365 Stadium.
To the satisfaction of all City fans, Johansson recently signed a new deal to extend his time in Stoke, and there may not be a better goalkeeper in the league.
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