The FIFA World Cup Golden Glove goes to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Spain’s Unai Simon is the current holder, and in 2026 he kept seven clean sheets in eight matches behind the meanest defence a World Cup winner has ever had.
Nine goalkeepers have won it since it became an official award, and not one of them has won it twice.
The winner is chosen by the FIFA Technical Study Group, which examines the goalkeepers’ performance across the tournament. If two are level, the one who progressed furthest in the competition takes it, followed by saves made and minutes played.
The organising committee had picked a best goalkeeper at earlier tournaments, but the prize was only made official in 1994, as the Lev Yashin Award, named after the Soviet Union goalkeeper still regarded as the finest to play the position. It was renamed the Golden Glove in 2010.
FIFA World Cup Golden Glove winners list
Winners from 1930 to 1990 were named retrospectively, before the award was formalised. Everything from 1994 onwards is an official Golden Glove.
|
Goalkeeper |
Team |
Year |
|
Enrique Ballestrero |
Uruguay |
1930 |
|
Ricardo Zamora |
Spain |
1934 |
|
Frantisek Planicka |
Czechoslovakia |
1938 |
|
Roque Maspoli |
Uruguay |
1950 |
|
Gyula Grosics |
Hungary |
1954 |
|
Harry Gregg |
Northern Ireland |
1958 |
|
Viliam Schrojf |
Czechoslovakia |
1962 |
|
Gordon Banks |
England |
1966 |
|
Ladislao Mazurkiewicz |
Uruguay |
1970 |
|
Sepp Maier |
West Germany |
1974 |
|
Ubaldo Fillol |
Argentina |
1978 |
|
Dino Zoff |
Italy |
1982 |
|
Jean-Marie Pfaff |
Belgium |
1986 |
|
Gabelo Conejo / Sergio Goycochea |
Costa Rica / Argentina |
1990 |
|
Michel Preud’homme |
Belgium |
1994 |
|
Fabien Barthez |
France |
1998 |
|
Oliver Kahn |
Germany |
2002 |
|
Gianluigi Buffon |
Italy |
2006 |
|
Iker Casillas |
Spain |
2010 |
|
Manuel Neuer |
Germany |
2014 |
|
Thibaut Courtois |
Belgium |
2018 |
|
Emiliano Martinez |
Argentina |
2022 |
|
Unai Simon |
Spain |
2026 |
FIFA World Cup 1994 Golden Glove winner: Michel Preud’homme
Belgium’s Michel Preud’homme was the first official winner, in 1994. Belgium went out to Germany in the round of 16, but he still took the award for a run that included two clean sheets in three group matches, and he made that edition’s all-star team as well.
FIFA World Cup 1998 Golden Glove winner: Fabien Barthez
Fabien Barthez became the first Frenchman on the list in 1998, and did it as hosts France won their first World Cup. He kept five clean sheets in seven matches and conceded twice all tournament, with the Didier Deschamps-captained side beating Brazil 3-0 in the final.
FIFA World Cup 2002 Golden Glove winner: Oliver Kahn
Germany finished as runners-up in 2002, but Oliver Kahn conceded just three goals in seven matches with five shutouts, and took the Golden Glove. He also won the Golden Ball that year, and remains the only player to win both awards at the same World Cup.
FIFA World Cup 2006 Golden Glove winner: Gianluigi Buffon
Gianluigi Buffon collected the Golden Glove and the trophy in 2006, keeping five clean sheets in seven games. Italy beat France 5-3 on penalties in the final after the 90 and extra time ended 1-1.
FIFA World Cup 2010 Golden Glove winner: Iker Casillas
Iker Casillas won it in 2010, the first year the prize carried the Golden Glove name, keeping six clean sheets and conceding twice as Spain won their first World Cup. That Spain side scored only eight goals in seven matches — still the fewest by a World Cup-winning team, and no other champion has scored fewer than 11.
FIFA World Cup 2014 Golden Glove winner: Manuel Neuer
Manuel Neuer conceded four goals across Germany’s 2014 title run and redefined how far a goalkeeper could push up the pitch while doing it. The final against Argentina was a quiet night by comparison: one save, one clean sheet.
FIFA World Cup 2018 Golden Glove winner: Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois took the award in 2018 after Belgium reached the semi-finals, still their best World Cup finish. He made 27 saves in the tournament and became the second Belgian to win it, after Preud’homme in 1994.
FIFA World Cup 2022 Golden Glove winner: Emiliano Martinez
Emiliano Martinez won it in Qatar as Argentina ended a 36-year wait for the trophy, and he did it with two of the tournament’s decisive moments: a stoppage-time save from Randal Kolo Muani with the final level in extra time, then the save from Kingsley Coman in the shoot-out that followed.
FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Glove winner: Unai Simon
Unai Simon’s 2026 numbers are the reason Spain are champions. Eight matches, seven clean sheets, one goal conceded — the fewest any World Cup winner has ever let in, beating the two that Spain themselves conceded in 2010, Italy in 2006 and France in 1998.
His shutout run stretched past 600 World Cup minutes before Charles De Ketelaere headed Belgium level in the quarter-final, and Spain still won that one 2-1 through a late Mikel Merino goal. Ferran Torres then settled the final against Argentina in extra time, and Spain took three of the four headline awards, with Rodri on the Golden Ball and Pau Cubarsi named best young player.
Has any goalkeeper won the Golden Glove twice?
No. Nine different goalkeepers have won the official award in nine editions, and nobody has repeated. Neuer and Courtois both went to the 2022 World Cup as previous winners and neither added a second; Courtois went again in 2026 and his tournament ended with a quad injury in the quarter-final against Spain.
Three countries have two official winners each: Belgium through Preud’homme and Courtois, Germany through Kahn and Neuer, and Spain through Casillas and Simon. Six of the nine winners lifted the trophy in the same tournament. The scoring award has a different story, and you can see every Golden Boot winner here, along with squads and results on our FIFA World Cup 2026 page.
Featured image: AFP