Average Height and Weight of MLS Goalkeepers (2023)
I’ve been a collegiate sports performance coach for 20 years. One thing I always felt was effective was showing guys the heights and weights of players at their position in the pros.
It helped give many players the extra motivation needed to gain weight when they were able to compare themselves to guys at the next level.
So, this is essentially the same research I would share with players, but now I’m sharing it with you. I took the 30-Man Rosters for the 2023 Major League Soccer season, over 700 players total and broke them down by position.
For this guide, I took an average of the heights and weights of the 85 goalkeepers across the league. In addition, just for fun, I listed the tallest, shortest, heaviest and lightest goalkeepers as well. Go ahead and impress someone today with your newfound random soccer knowledge.
Average Height of an MLS Goalkeeper
The average height of a major league soccer goalkeeper is 74.56 inches (just over 6’2 1/2″).
Average Weight of an MLS Goalkeeper
The average weight of a major league soccer goalkeeper is 186.2 pounds.
Who are the Tallest Goalkeepers in Major League Soccer?
There are four guys listed at 6’6″ or taller, but Hunter Sulte stands alone (bad pun intended) at 6’7″.
| Tallest Goalkeepers in the MLS | ||
| Player | Height | Team |
| Hunter Sulte | 6’7″ | Portland Timbers |
| Ben Lundt | 6’6″ | St Louis City SC |
| Javier Otero | 6’6″ | Orlando City |
| Benjamin Martino | 6’6″ | Nashville SC |
Who are the Shortest Goalkeepers in Major League Soccer?
There are only three goalkeepers in the league listed under 6’0″.
| Shortest Goalkeepers in the MLS | ||
| Player | Height | Team |
| Abraham Rodriguez | 5’8″ | Colorado Rapids |
| Maxime Crepeau | 5’11” | Los Angeles Football Club |
| Jacob Jackson | 5’11” | New England Revolution |
Who are the Heaviest Goalkeepers in the MLS?
There are six players listed at 209 pounds or more.
| Heaviest Goalkeepers in the MLS | ||
| Player | Weight | Team |
| Evan Louro | 225 | FC Cincinnati |
| Ben Lundt | 220 | St Louis City SC |
| Fred Emmings | 209 | Minnesota United |
| John Pulskamp | 209 | Sporting Kansas City |
| Alex Bono | 209 | DC United |
| Tim Melia | 209 | Sporting Kansas City |
Who are the Lightest Goalkeepers in the MLS?
Here are the six lightest goalkeepers in Major League Soccer, all weighing 161 pounds or less.
| Lightest Goalkeepers in the MLS | ||
| Player | Weight | Team |
| Emmanuel Ochoa | 150 | San Jose Earthquakes |
| Jeffrey Dewsnup | 159 | Real Salt Lake |
| Antonio Carrera | 159 | FC Dallas |
| Jonathan Sirois | 161 | CF Montreal |
| Damian Las | 161 | Austin FC |
| William Yarbrough | 161 | Colorado Rapids |
Final Thoughts
So, what did I learn?
Goalkeepers are easily the biggest players on a soccer field, by both height and weight.
Goalkeepers are, on average, almost 3 inches taller than defenders (the next closest position group) and almost 30 pounds heavier as well.
This makes sense in multiple ways. Obviously, being tall and long is tremendously beneficial for defending the goal. Taller goalkeepers simply have the advantage to be able to reach balls that a shorter goalie may simply not be able to get to.
Next, it’s not advantageous for soccer players, who can cover up to 6 or 7 miles in a game, to be heavy. However, goalkeepers don’t have to worry about covering anywhere close to that distance so they can focus more on just being powerful and explosive.
Finally, if you’d like to see the full position-by-position breakdown, check out the average heights and weights of major league soccer players by position.
Coach Horton, great article. Very interesting!! Wonder If thier is a correlation between height and numbers of goals scored against them. While being tall would presumably stop more goals does it actually (with data) show that theory to be correct?
P.s. hopefully it does because my son wants to be an mls goal keeper and should be about 6’8