The trophy went to Spain, and so did nearly everything else. The 2026 World Cup's individual awards, handed out on the MetLife pitch minutes before the confetti fell, put Lamine Yamal at the centre of a Spanish clean sweep and slotted Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Pedri in around him. Here is the full breakdown — who won what, why, and how the tiebreakers fell.
Golden Ball: Lamine Yamal
FIFA's award for the tournament's best player went to Yamal after a media vote that was, by the end of the final, essentially a formality. Eight goals across the seven matches he played, six assists, and a Sunday performance that produced the winning brace in a World Cup Final. Pedri collected the Silver Ball for a metronomic tournament in midfield; Harry Kane took the Bronze Ball as the tournament's second-leading scorer and the man who dragged England to the final. Yamal, at 19, becomes the youngest Golden Ball winner in the award's history, taking the record from Kylian Mbappé, who claimed the Young Player prize in 2018 at the same age.
Golden Boot: Yamal by tiebreaker, then outright
Yamal and Kane arrived at Sunday level on six goals apiece. Yamal's two in the final settled it on the number, not the tiebreaker: 8 to 7. Erling Haaland's five for Norway on the way to the semifinal earned him the Bronze Boot. Kylian Mbappé finished fourth on 4, tied with Netherlands substitute finisher Cody Gakpo — the tiebreaker there was minutes played, which sent the Silver Boot to Gakpo. It is the closest race in a men's World Cup since 2010, when Diego Forlán, Wesley Sneijder, Thomas Müller and David Villa all finished on 5 and the award was settled by assists.
Golden Glove: Unai Simón
Given to the tournament's best goalkeeper. Simón's numbers tell the story: five clean sheets in seven starts, a save percentage of 82.4, and the crossbar-clanging stop from Bukayo Saka in the final that would have been the equaliser. Jordan Pickford was Simón's closest competitor and would have won it if the final had gone the other way; his tournament total of four clean sheets and a knockout-round penalty save against Belgium was Golden Glove-worthy in every year but this one. Third place went to Netherlands veteran Bart Verbruggen.
Young Player of the Tournament: Yamal, again
The award for the best player aged 21 or under. There was never a serious challenger. Yamal becomes the first player in World Cup history to win the Golden Ball, the Golden Boot and the Young Player Award at the same tournament — a treble that even Mbappé at his peak did not manage. The closest runners-up were Turkish teenage midfielder Arda Güler, who was the story of Turkey's Round of 16 run, and Argentine forward Franco Mastantuono, who scored three off the bench.
FIFA Fair Play Award: Japan
Voted by FIFA's technical study group on discipline, fair play spirit and cooperation with match officials. Japan collected two yellow cards across five matches and zero reds. They had a reputation for it before the tournament — Japan won the same award in 2018 and 2022 — and the 2026 side did not break the pattern. The award comes with a modest financial prize donated to the Fair Play programmes of the winning national association.
The tiebreakers, since people ask
- Golden Boot: goals first, assists second, minutes played third. Fewer minutes wins because scoring rate per minute is treated as an efficiency metric.
- Golden Ball: FIFA media vote of accredited journalists at the tournament; each voter ranks a top three.
- Golden Glove: a combination of clean sheets, save percentage, goals conceded, and votes from the FIFA technical study group. It is not purely a numbers award.
- Young Player: media vote of accredited journalists, restricted to players born on or after 1 January 2005.
What the awards tell us about the tournament
Four of the six major individual prizes went to Spanish players, which reflects both La Roja's championship run and the way this tournament rewarded the sort of possession-and-transition football that Spain plays as well as anyone. Yamal's sweep is the tournament's headline; his manager Luis de la Fuente called him "the best player at this World Cup by a distance" in his post-match press conference and no one at the room disagreed. Kane's Silver Ball and Silver Boot underline how close England ran the eventual champions. Haaland's Bronze Boot is Norway's first individual award at a World Cup — the country's debut tournament, and the striker will leave New Jersey without the trophy but with the personal recognition his tournament deserved.
FAQ
Who won the Golden Ball in 2022? Lionel Messi, in what was widely read as a coronation for his career after Argentina beat France in the final.
Do the awards come with prize money? The individual awards come with a modest FIFA payment and considerable long-term commercial upside. The real financial reward is the tournament team-share for reaching the latter rounds, which for Spain is $47 million.
Where can I read more? Our Scorelisto blog has the full final recap and the tournament-in-numbers post, or check soccer live scores for the friendly calendar that resumes in September.