After Tottenham's Antonin Kinsky endured a torrid evening against Atlético Madrid, we recall five other goalkeeping howlers that left their perpetrators wishing the ground would swallow them up.
Andy Dibble's moment of madness came in a goalless draw between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City in 1994. After catching a cross, Dibble rested the ball on one hand, allowing Gary Crosby to sneak up behind him and head it out of his grasp before tapping into an empty net. Despite City's protests, the goal stood. 'I can never escape it,' Dibble later admitted. Crosby, now 60, retired from professional football in October after knee replacement surgery ended his role as Accrington Stanley's goalkeeping coach.
Colombia's René Higuita, known as 'El Loco' for his adventurous style, paid the ultimate price in a 1990 World Cup last-16 match against Cameroon. Having dribbled to the halfway line, he was dispossessed by 38-year-old Roger Milla, who scored into an unguarded net to seal a 2-1 victory. 'It was a mistake as big as a house,' conceded Higuita. Milla later revealed he had studied videos of Higuita's dribbling provided by Colombia captain Carlos Valderrama, his former teammate at Montpellier.
Liverpool's Loris Karius endured a nightmare in the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid. His underarm throw hit Karim Benzema and trickled into the net for the opener, and he later spilled Gareth Bale's long-range shot for the third goal. A tearful Karius apologised profusely, and it later emerged he had been playing with a concussion after an elbow from Sergio Ramos. Liverpool replaced him with Alisson that summer, and after spells at Besiktas and Union Berlin, Karius is now at Schalke in Germany's second tier.
Leeds United's Illan Meslier suffered a bizarre lapse in a 2024 Championship match against Sunderland. In the 97th minute, with Leeds 2-1 up, Alan Browne's miscued chip somehow deceived Meslier, who allowed the ball to bounce past his hands and leg into the net. Leeds manager Daniel Farke said he had 'never seen such an incident in my 30 years in football' and that Meslier was 'in tears' in the dressing room. Sunderland boss Régis Le Bris, who had coached Meslier at Lorient, hugged his former protégé after the match. Meslier suspected a divot caused the ball to change direction, but the error affected him badly, and by April 2025 he had been dropped.
