Over the course of the last four years, Mary Earps has established herself definitively as one of best goalkeepers in women’s football.
Sarina Wiegman put her faith in Earps to be her first choice between the posts when she took over as manager in 2021 and the former Manchester United goalkeeper was key to the Lionesses’ triumph at Euro 2022.
Then at the 2023 FIFA World Cup finals in Australia, Earps again starred – helping her side reach the final and later being named the FIFA Best Goalkeeper award for a second time.
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Although she now faces stiff competition from Hannah Hampton for England’s No. 1 jersey, Earps should play her part in Switzerland.
But what is her record like at the European Championships and how does she fair in the rankings for all-time clean sheets?
Mary Earps’ record at the Euros
Now at French giants PSG, Earps was one of the key members of the Euro 2022 winning Lionesses squad. It was the first time she had won minutes in a Euros as despite being included in the squad in 2017 she didn’t play.
In the 2022 tournament she kept four clean sheets.
Shutouts were registered against Austria, Norway and Northern Ireland in the group stage, before also registering a clean sheet in the semi-final win over Sweden.
The group stage defensive effort equalled a tournament record – with England following Germany in the 2005 finals to go through the group stage without conceding. However, the German team also did this at Euro 2022.
That means that Earps will head to Switzerland looking to add to her overall tally of four, if she can reclaim the No. 1 jersey.
Earps’ overall clean sheet record across all competitions for England is 26 in 53 caps for her country.
Who has the record for most clean sheets at the Women’s Euros?
The record of the individual goalkeeper with the most clean sheets at the Euros is former Germany stopper Silke Rottenberg.
Rottenberg, won 125 caps, in a 15-year international career and ended up a three-time European champion. She was part of the 1997, 2001 and 2005 Germany winning sides.
During this time she kept 11 clean sheets in total, including four at both the 1997 and 2001 tournaments.
The 2001 finals was particularly impressive for Rottenberg. After conceding 14 minutes into Germany’s opening game against Sweden, she didn’t let in another goal again – a run that stretched to 466 minutes.
This means Earps still has some way to go to become the best goalkeeper in women’s European Championship history – at least by the measure of clean sheets.
She does at least have the record for most WSL clean sheets in a single season, keeping an impressive 14 shutouts in 2022/23 for former club Manchester United.
