Saprissa Born in
San Isidro de El General, Navas made his professional debut with
Deportivo Saprissa on 6 November 2005, in a
Primera league match against
Asociación Deportiva Carmelita. He was the first-choice keeper in his two final seasons with the club, winning six
national championships and the
2005 CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
Albacete In July 2010, Navas signed with
Albacete Balompié of the
Segunda División in
Spain precisely 20 years after countryman
Luis Conejo, who occupied the same position. He played in 36 games out of 42 during
his first season, but his team suffered relegation after finishing in last position.
Levante in 2013 In the
2011–12 campaign, Navas reached
La Liga, being loaned to
Levante UD for a year. He made his debut in the competition on 13 May 2012 in the last round, playing in a 3–0 home win against
Athletic Bilbao that confirmed the club's first ever
qualification for the
UEFA Europa League, and joined the Valencian club on a three-year contract in July of that year. Despite initially being back-up to
Gustavo Munúa, Navas was the first-choice goalkeeper for Levante in the 2013–14 season, and was nominated as the league's best goalkeeper alongside
Thibaut Courtois of
Atlético Madrid and
Willy Caballero of
Málaga CF, going on to win the prize. In March 2014, he was
La Liga Player of the Month, the first goalkeeper to win the accolade. He finished the season as the goalkeeper with the most saves (267) in La Liga, finishing fourth in the
Zamora Trophy conceding 39 goals in 36 games despite playing for a 'lower ranked' team.
Real Madrid 2014–15 On 3 August 2014,
Real Madrid triggered Navas' €10 million buyout clause, and he signed a six-year contract with the club. His first competitive call-up was on 12 August, sitting on the bench as
Iker Casillas played in the
2014 UEFA Super Cup, which Real Madrid won 2–0 against
Sevilla at the
Cardiff City Stadium. Navas was given his debut for the club on 23 September, in a 5–1 victory over
Elche at the
Santiago Bernabéu. He was given his
Champions League debut on 26 November, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–1 away win against Swiss side
FC Basel. On 20 December, he was on the bench as his team won the
Club World Cup, defeating
Club Atlético San Lorenzo in
the final in Morocco. His performances for Levante in the previous La Liga season and
Costa Rica in the 2014 World Cup led him win Player of the Year at the
2014 CONCACAF Awards, earning the dual distinction of the first Costa Rican and goalkeeper to do so.
2015–16 With the departure of Casillas from Real Madrid, Navas inherited his number 1 shirt for the
2015–16 La Liga season. Madrid agreed to transfer Navas to
Manchester United in part-exchange for
David de Gea on 31 August 2015. Still, the deal collapsed because the documents were not submitted to
FIFA before the Spanish transfer deadline. Madrid thrashed
Real Betis in their home opener by a score of 5–0 with a fine performance from Navas, making several saves and stopping a penalty. He was a regular starter when the team won the
2015–16 UEFA Champions League. Navas earned the dual distinction of becoming the first Costa Rican and Central American ever to play in and win the men's Champions League final. He set a new record for Real Madrid in the
UEFA Champions League by not conceding a single goal in his first eight appearances; 6 of these were in the 2015–16 season. He also usurped
Edwin van der Sar to reach the second spot in clean sheets behind
Jens Lehmann in the all-time list. He was the best goalkeeper in the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League season, conceding only three goals in 12 appearances, keeping nine clean sheets.
2016–17 He was the starting goalkeeper when Madrid won the
2016–17 La Liga and the
2016–17 UEFA Champions League. On 29 January 2017 after the 3–0 win at home to Real Sociedad in La Liga, Navas became the first player from Costa Rica to reach 100 La Liga appearances. His performances during the double trophy-winning season led him to win the Player of the Year for the second time at the
2017 CONCACAF Awards.
2017–18 Navas made his 100th appearance for Madrid during the
2–0 second-leg home win over
Barcelona. During the
2017–18 UEFA Champions League, he started eleven games, as Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall Champions League title beating
Liverpool 3–1 in the final. The win against Liverpool saw Navas claim his 100th victory for Madrid in only 141 appearances. Navas produced some fine performances in the Champions League including a superb display against
Bayern Munich in their
semi-final second leg clash which helped Real Madrid qualify to the final. He made eight saves during the game, his highest tally in a Champions League knock-out game. Bayern Munich manager
Jupp Heynckes praised Navas after the game as the reason for Real Madrid's qualification.
2018–19 Navas’ fifth season at Real Madrid began with the much-anticipated arrival of
Thibaut Courtois to compete for the number 1 goalkeeping spot. Despite Courtois’ arrival, Navas was selected to play in the
2018 UEFA Super Cup which resulted in a 2–4 loss to city rivals
Atlético Madrid. Navas then went on to start the opening game of
La Liga, comfortably keeping his first clean sheet of the season with a 2–0 win over
Getafe CF. His performances in the last Champions League campaign led him to be voted as the
2017–18 UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season On 6 April 2019 Navas became the first ever non-Spanish goalkeeper to reach 100 La Liga appearances for Real Madrid.
Paris Saint-Germain Navas joined
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on a four-year contract on 2 September 2019, becoming the first Costa Rican to play for the men's team. He made his
Ligue 1 debut 12 days later, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 home win against
Strasbourg. On 24 July 2020, Navas won his 20th career club trophy after beating
Saint-Étienne in the
Coupe de France final. On 31 July, he kept a clean sheet and saved a spot kick in the resulting shoot-out as PSG defeated
Lyon 6–5 on penalties in the
2020 Coupe de la Ligue Final. That win marked Navas' 15th trophy in Europe, matching
Rafael Márquez's record for a
CONCACAF player. On 23 August 2020, Navas started his 4th
Champions League final, losing to Bayern Munich 1–0. He finished the European campaign with 5 clean sheets, the second most after
Manuel Neuer despite having played 191 minutes less. Navas started his second season with PSG as one of the seven club players to test positive for
COVID-19. He missed the clubs first two games due to the quarantine requirement. On 16 September 2020, Navas played his first game of the season winning and keeping a clean sheet against
Metz. On 17 September,
UEFA announced Navas, for the second time, as a nominee for the 2019–20 Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season award. On 20 September, Navas starred in PSG's 3–0 away win to
Nice with a second consecutive clean sheet as well as several excellent saves. On 13 January 2021, Navas won the
2020 Trophée des Champions. With that win, he became the CONCACAF player with the most European trophies, 16, surpassing former Rafael Márquez. On 20 April 2021, Navas was voted
Ligue 1 Player of the Month for March, making him the first CONCACAF player to win the award. Navas signed a contract with PSG until 2024 on 26 April 2021. Ahead of the
2021–22 season, PSG signed Italian goalkeeper
Gianluigi Donnarumma. This raised eyebrows over potential competition between Navas and his Italian counterpart. In the
2022–23 season, new coach
Christophe Galtier confirmed that Navas would occupy the position of number two goalkeeper.
Loan to Nottingham Forest and return to PSG Following the long-term injury to
Dean Henderson, on 31 January 2023, Navas signed for
Premier League club
Nottingham Forest on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut for Forest on 5 February, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win over
Leeds United, and was named player of the match. Following his return to PSG, Navas was included in the Champions League squad for the
2023–24 season, having rejected a transfer to Saudi club
Al Hilal. On 11 May 2024, he announced his departure from PSG at the end of the season.
Newell's Old Boys On January 21, 2025, Navas joined
Newell's Old Boys on a free transfer. A month later, on 2 February, he made his debut in a 1–0 win against
Aldosivi. In June 2025 Navas began to seek his departure from the team due to relationship problems with the coaching staff and fans of Newell's, which made him request not to play in the first matches of the
2025 Clausura Tournament, while asking the club to allow him to be transferred to another team. After several weeks of failed sale negotiations, Newell's announced Navas's departure from the club on July 21, 2025, six months after joining the team.
UNAM On 24 July 2025,
Liga MX club
UNAM officially announced the signing of Navas. ==International career==