Lev Ivanovich Yashin (Russian:Лев Иванович Яшин; 22 October 1929 – 20 March 1990) was a Soviet professionalfootballer considered by many to be the greatestgoalkeeper in the history of the sport.[2] He was the first and only goalkeeper to win aBallon d'Or.[3] He was known for his athleticism, positioning, imposing presence in goal, and acrobatic reflex saves.[4][5][6][7] He was alsodeputy chairman of theFootball Federation of the Soviet Union.
Yashin earned status for revolutionising the goalkeeping position by imposing his authority on the entire defence.[4][5][8] A vocal presence in goal, he shouted orders at his defenders, came off his line to intercept crosses and alsoran out to meet onrushing attackers, done at a time when goalkeepers spent the 90 minutes standing in the goal waiting to be called into action.[4][8][9] His performances made an indelible impression on a global audience at the1958 World Cup, the first to be broadcast internationally. He dressed head to toe in apparent black (in truth very dark blue),[10] thus earning his nicknames "the Black Spider" or "the Black Panther",[11] which enhanced his popularity.[4][8]
In 1963, Yashin received theBallon d'Or, awarded to the European player of the year, the only goalkeeper ever to receive the award.[4] He was additionally named posthumously to theBallon d'Or Dream Team in 2020, a greatest all-time XI, and was voted the best goalkeeper of the 20th century by theIFFHS.[16] He was also named to theIFFHS All-time Men's Dream Team in 2021. He was named byFrance Football as the greatest goalkeeper of all time in 2020.[17] In 2025,IFFHS crowned him as the greatest goalkeeper in football history.[18] In November 2003, to celebrateUEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as theGolden Player of Russia by theRussian Football Union as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.[19] In 2019,France Football established theYashin Trophy for the best performing goalkeeper, and is awarded alongside the Ballon D'Or.[20]
Yashin was born inMoscow, in aRussian family of industrial workers. When he was 12,World War II forced him to work in a factory to support the Soviet war effort. However his health at the age of 18 (after he suffered a nervous breakdown) meant he was unable to work.[10][21] Thus, he was sent to work in a military factory in Moscow. After being spotted playing for the factory team he was invited to join theDynamo Moscow youth team.[22]
Yashin’s debut for Dynamo Moscow came in 1950 in a friendly match. It was not the debut he would have hoped for, as he conceded a soft goal scored straight from a clearance by the opposing keeper. That year he played in only two league games, and did not appear in a senior match again until 1953. But he remained determined, and stayed at Dynamo in the reserves waiting for another opportunity. Yashin also played goalie for theDynamoice hockey team during those early years of trying to break into the senior squad. He managed to win a USSR ice hockey cup in 1953 and was third in the USSR ice hockey championship as goalkeeper.[23]
He spent his entire professional football career with Dynamo Moscow, from 1950 to 1970, winning theUSSR football championship five times and theSoviet Cup three times.[24] Yashin's club teammate, rival and mentor wasAlexei "Tiger" Khomich, the keeper of theSoviet national team, who had become famous for his role inDynamo Moscow’s British tour. He also internally rivalled goalkeeperValter Sanaya, who left the club in 1953.[25]
The 1958 World Cup, played in Sweden, put Yashin on the map for his performances, with the Soviet Union advancing to the quarter-finals.[10] In a group stage match against the eventual Cup winnersBrazil, the Soviet team lost 2–0. Facing a Brazil team that featuredGarrincha and a 17 year oldPelé in attack, Yashin's performance prevented the score from becoming a rout.[28]
Yashin was nominated for Ballon d'Or in 1960 and 1961 and placed fifth and fourth, respectively.[29] In 1962, despite suffering two concussions during the tournament, he once again led the team to a quarter-final finish, before losing to host countryChile.[30] That tournament showed that Yashin was all too human, having made some uncharacteristic mistakes. In the game againstColombia, which the Soviet Union was leading 4–1, Yashin let in a few soft goals, including a goal scored byMarcos Coll directly from acorner kick. It was the first and the only goal scored directly from a corner in FIFA World Cup history.[31] The Soviet Union's game against Colombia finished in a 4–4 draw, which led the French newspaperL'Équipe to predict the end of Yashin's career.[7] He did, however, make an outstanding save against Chile in the quarter-final. Despite this, the Soviet Union suffered a 2–1 defeat and were eliminated from the World Cup.[10]
Despite the disappointment of the 1962 World Cup, Yashin would bounce back to win theBallon d'Or in December 1963. One of his best performances that year was the1963 England v Rest of the World football match, where he made a number of spectacular saves. From that point onward he was known to the world as the "Black Spider" because he wore a distinctive all-black outfit and because it seemed as though he had eight arms to save almost everything.[4][8] But to his fans, he was always the fearless "Black Panther".[11] He often played wearing a cloth cap of burnt-brick colour. Yashin led the Soviet team to its best showing at the FIFA World Cup, a fourth-place finish in the1966 World Cup held in England.[10]
Always ready to give advice to his comrades, Yashin even made a fourth trip to the World Cup finals in1970, held in Mexico, as the third-choice back-up and an assistant coach. The Soviet team again reached the quarter-finals. In 1971, in Moscow, he played his last match for Dynamo Moscow. Lev Yashin'sFIFAtestimonial match was held at theLenin Stadium in Moscow with 100,000 fans attending and a host of football stars, includingPelé,Eusébio andFranz Beckenbauer.[4]
After retiring from playing, Yashin spent almost 20 years in various administrative positions at Dynamo Moscow. He also spent much of his retirement indulging in what his wife called his second passion: fishing. Abronze statue of Lev Yashin was erected at theDynamo Stadium in Moscow.[32]
In 1986, following athrombophlebitis contracted while he was inBudapest, Yashin underwent the amputation of one of his legs.[32] He died in 1990 ofstomach cancer, despite a surgical intervention in an attempt to save his life. He was given astate funeral as a Soviet Honoured Master of Sport.[32]
Yashin was survived by wife Valentina Timofeyevna and daughters Irina and Elena;[1] when Russia hosted the2018 FIFA World Cup, Valentina was still living in the Moscow apartment that the Soviet state had given her husband in 1964.[33] Yashin has a granddaughter and one surviving grandson; another grandson died in 2002 at age 14 from injuries suffered in a bicycle accident.[33] The surviving grandson, Vasili Frolov, played as a goalkeeper in Dynamo's youth section and was on the books of the senior side,[34] but never played a game with the senior side, retiring from play at age 23. He now runs a goalkeeper training school in Moscow nearSpartak Moscow'scurrent stadium.[33]
"Lev Yashin was first-class, a real super goalkeeper. His positional play was excellent, but everything he did was top-class. He was the model for goalkeeping for the next 10 to 15 years, without a doubt. I visualised myself doing some of the things he was doing, even though I was already playing in the top division I used to learn from him."
—England legendGordon Banks, voted the second greatest goalkeeper, behind Yashin, of the 20th Century.[6]
Yashin was "the peerless goalkeeper of the century".
Considered by many in the sport to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game,[2] Yashin was an imposing presence in goal due to his tall stature, and was highly regarded for his athleticism, agility, positional sense, bravery, and exceptional reflexes, which enabled him to produce acrobatic and spectacular saves.[4][5][6][7][35][36] Yashin remains the only goalkeeper to have won theBallon d'Or,in 1963.[4] He also stopped 151penalty kicks during his career, more than any other goalkeeper in history, and kept over 270 clean sheets.[32] For his outstanding service to the people and to his country, Yashin was awarded theOrder of Lenin in 1967, the highest award of the USSR.[4]
“Yashin revolutionised the role of goalkeeper like no other before him, by always being ready to act as an extra defender” and by “starting dangerous counter-attacks with his positioning and quick throws”.
A vocal and authoritative figure between the posts, Yashin is known for revolutionising the goalkeeping position:[4][5][8] he shouted orders at his defenders, came off his line to intercept crosses, and alsoran out to meet onrushing attackers, done at a time when goalkeepers spent the 90 minutes standing in the goal waiting to be called into action.[4][8][9] Yashin would always organise the defensive game of his team, often so fiercely that even his wife accused him of yelling too much on the pitch. He rarely captained his teams, as the later accepted custom of appointing a goalkeeper captain was virtually unheard-of in that era, but his leadership on the field was always evident. Yashin was one of the goalkeepers who began the practice of punching balls out in difficult situations instead of trying to catch them. Other novel practices he developed were the quick throw of the ball to begin a counterattack, coming out of the penalty area to anticipate danger, and the command and organisation of the defenders – practices now quite common among goalkeepers.[4] When asked what his secret was, he would reply that the trick was "to have a smoke to calm your nerves, then toss back a strong drink to tone your muscles."[12][32]
In 1994,FIFA established theLev Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper at the World Cup finals. FIFA polls named Yashin as the sole goalkeeper inWorld Team of the 20th Century.World Soccer magazine named him in their100 Greatest Players of the 20th century. Many commentators consider Yashin the best goalkeeper in the history of football, which has resulted in him being chosen to be the goalkeeper in most of the world-all-time teams (including the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team and theFIFA Dream Team).[37] In 2020 Yashin was named in theBallon d'Or Dream Team, a greatest all-time XI.[38]
Yashin on a 2016 Russian stamp from the series "Football Legends"Commemorative coin issued in 2008 by theCentral Bank of ArmeniaBronze statue of Yashin inRio de Janeiro, Brazil
Poem "Вратарь выходит из ворот" ("Goalkeeper is coming out of the goal", 1974) byYevgeny Yevtushenko.[41]
A Russian-language biopic about his life, entitledLev Yashin: Goalie of My Dreams, was released on 22 October 2017. Its director Oleg Kapanets previously producedGagarin: First in Space.[12][42]
In 2018, Yashin appeared on a new 100-ruble commemorative banknote from theCentral Bank of Russia celebrating the2018 FIFA World Cup in the country; he also appeared on the official World Cup poster released in November 2017.[45]
Yashin also playedice hockey (also as agoalie) and he won theSoviet Cup in March 1953.[10] He was even among the candidates for the country's ice hockey national team, but he stopped playing ice hockey in 1954 to concentrate on hisfootball career.[10]
"What kind of a goalkeeper is the one who is not tormented by the goal he has allowed? He must be tormented! And if he is calm, that means the end. No matter what he had in the past, he has no future."
