Spain did not just win the FIFA World Cup 2026. They swept nearly every individual award alongside it, making them the ultimate World Cup 2026 Award Winners. La Roja beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time at MetLife Stadium on July 19, claiming their second World Cup title in history, and when FIFA handed out the prizes on the pitch in MetLife Stadium of East Rutherford, three of the four major trophies went to Spanish players.
Lionel Messi, playing what is almost certainly the final match of his international career, came heartbreakingly close to winning the Golden Boot at 39 years old but finished two goals short of Kylian Mbappé.
Complete List of FIFA World Cup 2026 Award Winners
| Award | Winner | Nation | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Ball (Best Player) | Rodri | Spain | Anchored Spain’s title-winning campaign |
| Golden Boot (Top Scorer) | Kylian Mbappé | France | 10 goals, 4 assists in 8 matches |
| Golden Glove (Best Goalkeeper) | Unai Simón | Spain | 7 clean sheets, 1 goal conceded in 8 matches |
| Best Young Player | Pau Cubarsí | Spain | 19-year-old centre-back, 8 matches played |
| FIFA Fair Play Award | Netherlands | Netherlands | Awarded after Round of 32 exit |
Golden Ball: Rodri
Rodri is one of the Golden Ball World Cup 2026 Award Winners. The Spanish captain Rodri was a revelation in the midfield, anchoring their miserly defence, which ultimately won them the FIFA World Cup. The eventual winners conceded just once in the entire tournament across eight games.
It was the kind of performance that made every other midfield look ordinary by comparison. Rodri did not score the goals or create the headlines that Mbappé did, but Spain’s entire defensive and attacking structure ran through him, and FIFA’s voters recognised that the best player at a tournament is not always the one with the most goals.
The Golden Ball ranking placed Messi second and Mbappé third. That Messi finishes second at his final World Cup, at 39, having scored eight goals across the campaign, is not a failure.
It is one of the most remarkable individual tournament performances the sport has ever produced by a player of his age. He simply ran into Rodri, who was exceptional.
Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappé
France’s Kylian Mbappé walked away with the Golden Boot award for the second consecutive FIFA World Cup courtesy of his 10 goals during the 2026 tournament. He also made four assists, playing in back-to-back finals.
Messi came up two goals and one game short of likely sweeping the top awards at 39 years old. He would have needed either a hat-trick to overtake Mbappé outright or a brace to begin the tiebreaker process, with assists as the first tiebreaker. He scored neither in the final, and Argentina registered only two shots in the match.
The game was dominated by Spain, with La Roja recording 20 shots while Argentina had only two, though Emiliano Martínez kept the defending champions in the game with 11 saves.
The final top scorers of the tournament:
| Rank | Player | Nation | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kylian Mbappé | France | 10 | 4 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 8 | — |
| 3 | Jude Bellingham | England | 7 | — |
| 3 | Erling Haaland | Norway | 7 | — |
| 5 | Harry Kane | England | 6 | — |
| 5 | Ousmane Dembélé | France | 6 | — |
Golden Glove: Unai Simón
Simón was awarded the 2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Glove, finishing the competition with a record seven clean sheets. The 29-year-old conceded only one goal in eight matches, against Belgium.
The Golden Glove seemed straightforward given Simón’s seven clean sheets throughout the tournament, a pretty remarkable run.
Spain conceded just one goal in seven matches, while Simón also set a new World Cup record by going 650 consecutive minutes without conceding. On the final day, he recorded his seventh clean sheet as Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time.
Best Young Player: Pau Cubarsí
Pau Cubarsí won the Young Player of the Tournament award. The 19-year-old is fresh off celebrating Spain’s second World Cup victory, having been one of the tournament’s most composed and commanding defensive performers across all eight matches Spain played.
To be eligible for the award, a player must have been less than 21 years old at the start of 2026. Previous winners include Thomas Müller, Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappé, and Enzo Fernández.
Cubarsí joins that list as one of its youngest ever recipients, and his performances alongside a back four that conceded one goal in eight matches suggest his name will remain on award lists for years to come.
FIFA Fair Play Award: Netherlands
The Netherlands won the FIFA Fair Play Award. They arrived at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with high expectations after topping Group F, but their campaign came to a painful end in the Round of 32. The Dutch were held to a 1-1 draw by Morocco after extra time before suffering a dramatic 3-2 defeat in the penalty shootout.
Their conduct throughout the tournament, despite the early exit, was recognised as the cleanest and most sportsmanlike of any competing nation.
Which Country Won the Most Awards?
Spain won three of the five individual awards — the Golden Ball, the Golden Glove, and the Best Young Player — in addition to lifting the World Cup trophy itself. No other nation came close to matching that sweep. France took the Golden Boot through Mbappé.
The Netherlands claimed the Fair Play Award. Argentina, who reached the final and had Messi finish second in the Golden Ball vote, left without an individual prize but with the pride of a final appearance in a tournament where they entered as defending champions.
Substitute Ferran Torres was the hero for Spain in the final, scoring in the 106th minute to instantly carve his name into Spanish football folklore, but it was the collective effort of an entire squad — Rodri, Simón, Cubarsí, Pedri, Lamine Yamal — that defined the most decorated night in Spanish football since 2010.
