The Ballon d'Or: Unai Simon the world's best goalkeeper

Spain's goal is safe

Unai Simón has been crowned the world's best goalkeeper. The Athletic Bilbao and Spain stopper claimed the award at the Ballon d'Or ceremony held in London on Monday.

Simón saw off nine of the game's leading goalkeepers to land the prize: Yassine Bounou (Morocco - Al-Hilal), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium - Real Madrid), Joan García (Spain - Barcelona), Gregor Kobel (Switzerland - Dortmund), Emiliano Martínez (Argentina - Chelsea), Edouard Mendy (Senegal - Al-Ahli), David Raya (Spain - Arsenal), Matvei Safonov (Russia - Paris Saint-Germain), Unai Simón, and Vozinha (Cape Verde - Colo-Colo).

Spain's triumph at the 2026 World Cup sealed the award for Simón, who served as his country's first-choice goalkeeper throughout the tournament.

He also walked away with the Golden Glove as the competition's best goalkeeper, conceding just one goal across eight matches.

One trophy was not enough. Simón set the longest clean-sheet streak in the tournament's history, going 650 consecutive minutes without conceding, a run that stretched from his final two matches at the 2022 World Cup through the first six and a half matches of the 2026 edition.