The golden trophy of the FIFA World Cup is the highest claim to fame for any national football team. Equally coveted are individual honors awarded to players who set new benchmarks with their performance.
Through these awards, FIFA recognizes the tournament’s top goal scorer, best player, best goalkeeper, best player under 21, and the team with the best fair play record that advanced to the second round.
Discover the winners of the FIFA World Cup 2026 individual awards in this article.
Winners of the FIFA World Cup 2026 awards
List of all awards presented at the FIFA World Cup 2026:
| FIFA World Cup 2026 Awards | Winner |
|---|---|
| Golden Ball |  Rodrigo Hernández Cascante |
| Silver Ball |  Lionel Messi |
| Bronze Ball |  Kylian Mbappé |
| Golden Boot | Kylian Mbappé |
| Silver Boot | Lionel Messi |
| Bronze Boot |  Jude Bellingham |
| Golden Glove | Unai Simón |
| FIFA Young Player Award | Pau Cubarsí Paredes |
| FIFA Fair Play Trophy |  The Netherlands |
1. Golden Ball
- FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Ball Winner: Rodrigo Hernández Cascante
- Position: Midfielder and captain of the Spain team
The Golden Ball was first awarded in 1982 to recognize the best overall player of the tournament. FIFA’s Technical Study Group (TSG) decides the shortlist while global media representatives vote for the winner. The criteria for the Golden Ball winner are not purely statistical. Voters consider players’ performances, leadership, and overall impact on the team.
Spain’s team captain, Rodri, won the Golden Ball with 93% passing accuracy at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Throughout the tournament, he attempted 799 passes, 747 of which were completed successfully. Rodri recorded 1,676 total involvements during the tournament.
2. Silver Ball
- FIFA World Cup 2026 Silver Ball Winner: Lionel Messi
- Position: Forward and captain of the Argentina team
Silver Ball is conferred to the tournament’s second-best overall player. The Silver Ball winner of the FIFA World Cup 2026 is Lionel Messi. With 288 completions out of 367 attempted passes, the captain of the Argentine team maintained 78% passing accuracy throughout the tournament. Messi's active total involvement of 889 helped the team greatly.
3. Bronze Ball
- FIFA World Cup 2026 Bronze Ball Winner: Kylian Mbappé
- Position: Forward and captain of the France team
The second runner-up or the third-best overall player is recognized with the Bronze Ball. Kylian Mbappé made it on the 2026 FIFA World Cup winners list as the Bronze Ball awardee. The captain of France’s national team earned this title with a passing accuracy of 87%. Kylian performed 201 completed passes from 232 attempts and had a total match involvement of 626.
4. Golden Boot
- FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Boot winner: Kylian Mbappé
- Total Goals: 10
The player who scores the most goals in the tournament is awarded the Golden Boot. Introduced in 1982, it was known as the Golden Shoe till 2010. If the number of goals scored by two players is equal, FIFA TSG selects the winner based on the number of assists of each contender.
Assists show how many times a player set up a teammate to score. If that turns out to be equal as well, then the one who scored in fewer minutes on the field is regarded as the Golden Boot winner. FIFA World Cup winner of the Golden Boot prize in 2026 is Kylian Mbappé. The French player recorded 10 goals and 4 assists. Mbappé played 769 minutes in this tournament.
5. Silver Boot
- FIFA World Cup 2026 Silver Boot Winner: Lionel Messi
- Total Goals: 8
The award celebrates the first runner-up of the Golden Boot, or the second most goal-scoring player of the tournament. Lionel Messi won the FIFA World Cup Silver Boot Award 2026 with a total of 8 goals and 4 assists. He played 853 minutes in 8 matches.
6. Bronze Boot
- FIFA World Cup 2026 Bronze Boot Winner: Jude Bellingham
- Position: Midfielder of the English team
- Total Goals: 7
The Bronze Boot is awarded to the top-third goal scorer of the tournament. By scoring 7 goals and 1 assist, the English midfielder snatched the Bronze Boot Award of the FIFA World Cup 2026 from Norwegian forward Erling Haaland. Bellingham played for 698 minutes in the tournament.
7. Golden Glove
- FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Glove Winner: Unai Simón
- Position: Goalkeeper of the Spain team
- Clean sheets: 7
The Golden Glove award is presented to the best goalkeeper of the FIFA World Cup tournament. It was started in 1994, named after the great Soviet goalkeeper of the time, Lev Ivanovich Yashin, and known as the ‘Lev Yashin Award’ until 2010. The Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón recorded 7 shutouts at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, earning him the Golden Glove. The player also set a new record for the most clean sheets in a single World Cup.
8. FIFA Young Player Award
- FIFA Young Player Award, 2026: Pau Cubarsí Paredes
- Position: Central defender of the Spain team
First introduced in 2006, the FIFA Young Player Award is bestowed on the best-performing young player of the tournament, with a maximum age of 21 (calculated from the 1st January 2005 for the 2026 FIFA World Cup).
It was first introduced in 2006 as the ‘Best Young Player Award’ and rebranded in 2010. In 2026, the award went to Pau Cubarsí Paredes, a 19-year-old Spanish center-back who made his World Cup debut. He helped strengthen the team's defense, which was breached only once in eight matches.
9. FIFA Fair Play Trophy
- FIFA Fair Play Trophy 2026: The Netherlands
FIFA introduced the Fair Play Trophy at the 1970 World Cup to honor the team with the best record of fair play and sportsmanship throughout the tournament. Teams that advance to the second round of the tournament are eligible for the trophy.
The team is also provided with $50,000 worth of football equipment for youth development. This year, with only 3 yellow cards and no red cards, the award goes to the Netherlands’ national football team.
