Donnarumma Crowned The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper 2025

Gianluigi Donnarumma has climbed to the very top of world goalkeeping. The Italian star has been officially named The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper 2025, a landmark moment in a career that has mixed huge talent, heavy pressure and constant debate.

This is his first time winning this specific FIFA award, and it comes after his most complete and important season yet with Paris Saint-Germain. From a historic UEFA Champions League run to a dominant final performance and a rare continental treble, Donnarumma did more than just make saves. He helped shape the story of European football in 2024–25.

The Season That Made Donnarumma The Best

FIFA’s own wording is simple: “Gianluigi Donnarumma has been named as The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper 2025. It is the first time that the Italian shot-stopper has claimed …” that prize. But the journey to this point was anything but simple.

Playing for PSG, Donnarumma finally put everything together over one long, demanding season. He was the last line of defence in a side that chased – and won – the biggest trophies available. The headline achievement: PSG’s UEFA Champions League triumph, the missing piece in the club’s modern era project.

In the Champions League, Donnarumma mixed the calm of a veteran with the reactions of a keeper in his prime. He was not just making routine saves; he was changing ties with single moments.

Champions League Heroics: From Liverpool to Inter Milan

The turning point of his campaign came in the Champions League knockout phase. PSG faced Liverpool, a club with a rich European history and an attack known for punishing any mistake. Donnarumma rose to the occasion when the margins were razor-thin.

Across that tie, the Italian keeper saved two penalties, huge moments that kept PSG alive and shifted the mood of the entire campaign. Penalty saves in knockout games are not just numbers; they are emotional earthquakes. They break one team and lift the other.

“Those penalty saves against Liverpool felt like the night Donnarumma truly became PSG’s leader.”

From there, PSG moved past dangerous, well-coached sides like Aston Villa and Arsenal. Each round tested Donnarumma in different ways – crosses, long shots, quick combinations – but his level did not drop. Instead of a keeper playing in streaks, he looked like a constant, steady presence.

It all led to a huge all-Italian showdown in the final: PSG vs Inter Milan. On a night loaded with storylines, Donnarumma delivered perhaps the calmest performance in the stadium. PSG’s attack ran riot in a 5–0 victory, but that scoreline only looks easy because the man in goal did his job with total control.

Donnarumma kept a clean sheet in the Champions League final, the kind of achievement that often lives forever in highlight reels and club history. For PSG, it was their first Champions League title on the way to a first-ever continental treble. For Donnarumma, it was the game that fully justified years of faith, and years of criticism, in one night.

A Continental Treble And A Complex Ending At PSG

The Champions League was only one part of the story. With Donnarumma in goal, PSG also wrapped up the domestic league and domestic cup, securing that rare treble many giants chase but few actually win.

From August to May, he had to handle more than just shots. Being PSG’s number one means carrying the weight of expectation, handling intense media focus and knowing that one mistake can define an entire season. In 2024–25, he passed that test.

The tale took a twist after Europe, though. PSG went on to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final, where they met Chelsea. This time, it was the French club that suffered. PSG lost 3–0, and for once, Donnarumma could not be the hero. Still, being the starting keeper in that global final underlined his status in the squad.

“The strange thing is he wins The Best just as PSG seem ready to move on from him. Modern football has no patience.”

Then came the real surprise: Donnarumma was left out of PSG’s 2025 UEFA Super Cup squad. Soon afterwards, his departure from the club was announced. It is a sharp contrast – the world game naming him the best in his position, while his club plans a future without him.

This contrast does not weaken his award; if anything, it adds drama to it. The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper 2025 is leaving PSG, but he does so at a personal high point, carrying a European title and a global individual trophy.

From Wonderkid To World’s Best: Donnarumma’s Long Road

Donnarumma has been in the spotlight for so long that it is easy to forget his age. He was a teenage sensation at AC Milan, thrown into Serie A as a kid and treated like a veteran before he could even drive. That early rise brought pressure and endless comparisons.

His move to PSG placed him under an even brighter light. Every game was judged through the lens of big wages, big expectations and past legends. He had ups and downs, including some high-profile mistakes in Europe that critics never forgot.

But his talent was never in doubt, and the awards have slowly followed him. He has already won the Yashin Trophy – given to the world’s best goalkeeper – twice (including in 2021 and again in a similar early-career context). He has also been recognised by the IFFHS as the World’s Best Goalkeeper.

This new FIFA prize, though, carries a different weight. When FIFA says, “Gianluigi Donnarumma has been crowned The Best Men’s Goalkeeper 2025. While plying his trade at PSG, the Italian got his hands on the UEFA …” titles that truly matter, it confirms what many watchers felt over the season: he has moved from promising star to finished article.

Why This Award Matters – And What Comes Next

The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper is not a lifetime award. It focuses on one clear period, one defined season. That is what makes this trophy so sharp in its meaning: it says that in 2024–25, no other keeper matched Donnarumma’s mix of impact, consistency and success.

He won it because:

• He was central to PSG’s first Champions League title.
• He delivered key penalty saves against Liverpool under huge pressure.
• He helped secure a historic treble, staying focused over many competitions.
• He showed resilience after setbacks, including the Club World Cup loss and his uncertain club future.

“Love him or doubt him, you can’t ignore a keeper who wins the Champions League 5–0 in the final and walks away with The Best.”

The story now moves into a new chapter. With his PSG exit confirmed, questions will follow him wherever he signs next. Can he repeat this level in a new league, new system and new dressing room? Will he be the calm leader who lifts another team to European glory, or will this season stand as his peak?

For now, the title is clear and simple: Gianluigi Donnarumma is The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper 2025. Behind that simple line is a season of pressure, big nights, penalty saves and a 5–0 final that felt like a statement to the whole football world.

Whatever happens next, this award locks his name into the modern history of his position. From teenage prodigy to Champions League winner and now FIFA’s top goalkeeper, Donnarumma has proved that the early hype was not a mistake – it was a preview.

And with his best years as a goalkeeper still ahead of him, this may not be the last time we see his name on a list of The Best.