Alisson Becker
Country: Brazil
Age: 33
Club: Liverpool FC
League: Premier League
Position: Goalkeeper
Club History: Internacional AS Roma, Liverpool FC
Major Honours: 2 X Premier League (Liverpool FC), 1 X UEFA Champions League (Liverpool FC) , 1 X FA Cup (Liverpool FC), 2 X League Cups (Liverpool FC), 2 X Copa America (Brazil)
In football, it is often said that strikers win matches, while defenders and goalkeepers win titles. If there is a living embodiment of this theory in modern football, it is the Brazilian giant, Alisson Becker. The man who changed the perception of what it means to be a “number 17” on the pitch.
"He isn't just a world-class goalkeeper. He is someone who gives the team confidence. When Alisson is in goal, everyone knows their backs are covered." — Jürgen Klopp
The goalkeeper who brought peace back to Anfield
MatchDay Images Limited | Alamy
Alisson's football career began in Porto Alegre, at the local "Internacional". At first, he had to live in the shadow of his older brother, Muriel, but his talent and incredible reflexes could not go unnoticed for long. By 2015, he had already become an indispensable figure in the team, which attracted the attention of European giants. In 2016, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean and joined the Italian "Roma".
Today, Alisson is a 193cm (6ft 3in) athlete who dominates the penalty area physically, but as a child, it was the opposite. At Internacional's academy, he was shorter, lanky and overweight than his peers, earning him the nickname "Gordinho" (fat guy) on the team. Alisson often found himself on the bench and returned home in tears.
It even got to the point where the club's management was considering expelling him from the academy because they thought he lacked the physical qualities. The club's goalkeeping coach, Mavael, barely managed to persuade the directors to reconsider this move. Alisson's growth and transformation only began at the age of 16, when in one year he gained an incredible 15 centimeters in height and turned the weight into muscle mass.
In the Becker family, being a goalie is not just a choice, it's a genetic code. Almost no one knows that Alisson's great-grandfather was a legendary goalkeeper for the amateur team Porto Alegre. His mother, for example, was a professional handball goalkeeper in her time, while his father, José Agostinho, played for the factory team...
Of course, as a goalkeeper. Alisson's older brother, Muriel, is also a professional goalkeeper (who also played for Internacional). As children, the brothers played ruthlessly in the yard - Muriel trained Alisson with the strict principles of his older brother, which often ended in fights and tantrums. Alisson always says that the competition with his brother made him psychologically like steel.
“When I first saw him in training, I asked myself: ‘How could this guy have played in Brazil before?’ His technique and composure were amazing from day one.” — Francesco Totti
Alisson spent his first season in the Italian capital behind Wojciech Szczesny, but after the Pole's departure, the Brazilian made a real splash. In the 2017/18 season, Roma reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they staged a legendary comeback against Barcelona (3:0). Alisson was the backbone of that team - he kept 17 clean sheets in 37 Serie A matches.
“He is the ‘Messi’ of goalkeeping. Alisson has the ability to make even the most difficult saves look like they are the easiest thing in the world.” — Roberto Caluzza (Italian goalkeeping coach)
In the summer of 2018, Liverpool paid a then-record fee of €62.5 million for Alisson. It was a transfer that changed the history of the Merseyside club. He won the Champions League in his very first season, followed by the long-coveted Premier League title the next year. Alisson lifted every possible trophy with the club, won the Premier League Golden Glove, and became the inaugural winner of the Yashin Trophy.
“Do you know how much Alisson is worth? If I had known he was this good, I would have paid double.”— Jurgen Klopp (after the 2019 Champions League final)
After reaching every conceivable peak with Liverpool, Alisson Becker faced his toughest challenge yet — maintaining consistency at the highest level during a time of transformation. In the 2021/22 season, he won the Premier League Golden Glove again (with Ederson, with 20 clean sheets) and played a key role in the club's FA and League Cup triumphs. However, his greatness became even more evident in the crunch 2022/23 season.
Despite Liverpool's defensive line often failing, Alisson was statistically named the best goalkeeper in Europe in terms of "expected goals prevented" (xG prevented). He saved the team from at least 10-12 inevitable goals, which kept the Merseysiders in the European Cup.
In February 2021, his father, 57-year-old José Agostinho, tragically drowned after swimming in a lake near his home in Brazil. Due to strict lockdowns and flight restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, Alisson was unable to travel home and attend his father's funeral. He was left alone in England with his pain. Despite his severe depression, he refused to miss games. Just three months later, it was he who scored the historic header against West Bromwich Albion. After the match, Alisson fell to his knees on the pitch, unable to hold back his tears, and with his fingers pointed to the sky, he dedicated the goal to his late father.
“When I saw that goal and then his reaction, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I knew what this boy had been through a few months ago. His father was watching him from heaven. This wasn’t just football, this was human drama and art of the highest order.” — Peter Schmeichel
Becker's greatness is not only expressed in emotional moments; he is also a real monster in the language of numbers. Alisson became the first goalkeeper in football history to win the Golden Glove in three different tournaments in the same season: the Premier League, the Champions League and the Copa America (with the Brazilian national team). His long-range pass accuracy exceeds 80%, making him Liverpool's hidden playmaker. He has kept a clean sheet in almost 45% of the matches played for the Merseyside club, which is one of the best records in Premier League history.
“In modern football, the goalkeeper is the first attacker. Alisson’s ability to start an attack with one precise long pass is amazing. He reads the game so well that he often doesn’t even have to fly or jump – the ball goes to him. He sits at the top of the world’s best.” — Gianluigi Buffon
In the locker room, where the players mostly listen to rap or hip-hop, Alisson creates a completely different atmosphere. He is seriously passionate about music, plays the acoustic guitar professionally and has a wonderfully warm, velvety voice. While in Brazil, he often performed with local rock and country (Sertanejo) bands. After moving to Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp asked him several times to sing for the whole team with guitar in hand during team meetings, which became a kind of therapy and tradition in the Merseyside dressing room.
“People often judge goalkeepers by how many titles they win. But if you want to know Alisson’s true value, look at the seasons when Liverpool were playing badly. He single-handedly kept the team at the top level. For me, he’s in the top three in Premier League history.” — Petr Cech
In the 2023/24 season, despite suffering several muscle injuries, his return to the pitch always guaranteed confidence for the team—a dynamic that culminated in a Carabao Cup triumph during Jürgen Klopp's farewell season.
Alongside his club career, Alisson's international career with the Brazilian national team (the Seleção) has been a real drama. After winning the 2019 Copa America and being named the tournament's best goalkeeper, he has been constantly competing with Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson.
Although it is always a matter of debate in the Brazilian media who stands out between these two giants, at the most important tournaments — including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and subsequent Copa Americas — coaches are placing their trust in Alisson's cool-headedness and positional genius. He has already gone down in Brazilian history as one of the most consistent and successful goalkeepers, bringing European discipline to the national team.
“Brazil has always had attacking stars, but Alisson gave our football something that we often lacked at World Cups — a sense of absolute reliability in the back line. When he is in goal, the whole country is at peace.” — Cafu
The departure of Jurgen Klopp in the summer of 2024 and the arrival of Arne Slott created a new tactical reality at Anfield. Slott's philosophy required the goalkeeper to play the ball more from short and medium distances, under pressure. This challenge proved to be the ideal platform for Alisson. In the 2024/25 and current 2025/26 seasons, the Brazilian will not only be responsible for goalkeeping, But he has become the team's main fulcrum in the first phase of attacks.
Despite the club signing Giorgi Mamardashvili for the future, Alisson has proven once again that his mental toughness and experience are untouchable - he remains the number one figure for the Merseysiders and one of the most valuable assets in world football's elite.
Craig Mercer / Alamy Images
“When a new coach comes in, everyone is nervous, but not Alisson. His playing intelligence is so high that he fits perfectly into any system. He is a goalkeeper who improves not only the defense, but the rhythm of the whole team.” — Thibaut Courtois
Football is an unfair game. It is designed for those who score goals. The spotlight, the million-dollar contracts, and the Golden Balls almost always go to the strikers. Goalkeeping is a thankless profession—you can play like a god for ninety minutes, but miss by an inch and people will forever condemn you to hell.
Alisson Becker destroyed this injustice. She forced the world to turn its spotlight on the loneliest spot on the pitch. Strikers do win games, but Alisson Becker is here to remind us: history and titles are written by those who have the whole world behind them instead of their own goal.
Written by Nini Giorgadze