Unai Simón won the men’s goalkeeper award at the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony in London on 26 October, finishing ahead of David Raya and Thibaut Courtois in the organiser’s final ranking. The award recognises the 2025–26 season. It adds to the World Cup Golden Glove that FIFA awarded him in July, a separate honour for his performances with Spain at that tournament.
The two awards bring different parts of Simón’s year into view. The London announcement ranks ten goalkeepers for the season; FIFA’s July report records his contribution to Spain’s World Cup victory. Together, the announcements show how a standout international tournament sits alongside recognition over the broader season.
2026 final goalkeeper ranking
| Rank | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Unai Simón |
| 2 | David Raya |
| 3 | Thibaut Courtois |
| 4 | Matvey Safonov |
| 5 | Emiliano Martínez |
| 6 | Vozinha |
| 7 | Joan García |
| 8 | Yassine Bounou |
| 9 | Édouard Mendy |
| 10 | Gregor Kobel |
Final order published by Ballon d’Or on 26 October 2026; vote totals not shown.
The World Cup record behind the context
FIFA’s tournament record is specific: Simón kept seven clean sheets in eight matches and conceded one goal, in the 2–1 quarter-final win over Belgium. Spain went on to defeat Argentina 1–0 after extra time in the final. FIFA says seven clean sheets are a single-World-Cup record; the previous highest total was five, achieved by several goalkeepers.
Those figures describe the World Cup campaign. They are useful context for the later season honour, but the Ballon d’Or result page does not assign a voting weight to the clean sheets or publish a numerical explanation of Simón’s winning margin. A strong tournament record and a confirmed award result can be reported together without presenting one statistic as the proven cause of the vote.
The final order and two different awards
The final goalkeeper order is Simón, Raya, Courtois, Matvey Safonov, Emiliano Martínez, Vozinha, Joan García, Yassine Bounou, Édouard Mendy and Gregor Kobel. That is a finished ranking, rather than the earlier shortlist. The full ranking table lets readers locate the other contenders without relying on nominations or predictions published before the ceremony.
The names of the honours also have a historical overlap. FIFA explains that its adidas Golden Glove was previously called the Yashin Award. That tournament prize is distinct from the goalkeeper honour presented at the Ballon d’Or gala, commonly covered as the Yashin Trophy. In this case the date and awarding organisation make the scope clear: FIFA on 19 July for the World Cup, and the Ballon d’Or ceremony on 26 October for 2025–26.
Where each result can be checked
For the final standings, use the linked Ballon d’Or article headed “Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year”; for the World Cup evidence, use FIFA’s dated Golden Glove report. Its eight-match total and seven clean sheets provide the appropriate basis for comparing tournament accounts. A season’s matches and a World Cup’s matches should not be placed in the same statistical denominator.
Simón’s year now carries both a tournament award backed by an exceptional defensive record and the season recognition confirmed in London. The distinction preserves the substance of each achievement: the World Cup figures explain what he accomplished in that competition, while the final season ranking establishes where he finished among the nominated goalkeepers.
Checked against the linked primary sources on 27 October 2026. Dates, measurement scopes and reported activities are distinguished from interpretation.
- Ballon d’Or: 2026 Men's Goalkeeper of the Year final ranking ↗
- FIFA: Simon captures adidas Golden Glove (19 July 2026) ↗