Spain players landed all of the three individual player awards at the World Cup after a triumphant 1-0 win over Argentina in the final.
An extra time goal from Ferran Torres was enough to secure a narrow win for La Roja in a tense final in New Jersey, though the true nature of the performance was not reflected in the scoreline as Spain dominated their opponents.
Luis de la Fuente’s side capped off a superb semi-final win over France with an even more complete performance in Sunday’s final, marking them out as by far the best side at this summer’s tournament, and they were duly rewarded with the three main individual player awards after the full-time whistle at the MetLife Stadium.
Imperious midfielder Rodri picked up the Golden Ball award for the best player at the tournament, while Barcelona youngster Pau Cubarsi won the Young Player of the Tournament prize and goalkeeper Unai Simon was awarded the Golden Glove after conceding just one goal in the entire tournament.
The final individual award, the Golden Boot for top goalscorer at the tournament, will go to Kylian Mbappe after the Frenchman’s two goals in the loss to England in the third-place match put him on 10 goals, one above Lionel Messi on eight.
The Netherlands won the Fifa Fair Play Award.
While Spain can also revel in the other individual awards cap a remarkable tournament for La Roja, who grew into the competition – as they did at Euro 2024 – and are now both European and world champions, matching the famous Spain team of 2008-2010.
There is still one tournament to go to match the golden generation that also won Euro 2012, but de la Fuente’s men will surely enter Euro 2028 among the favourites too, with a dazzling performance in North America putting them among the greats of international football as the De la Fuente era rumbles on.
World Cup 2026 official awards
- Golden Ball: Rodri, Spain
- Silver Ball: Lionel Messi, Argentina
- Bronze Ball: Kylian Mbappe, France
- Golden Glove: Unai Simon, Spain
- Young Player: Pau Cubarsi, Spain
- Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappe, France (10)
- Silver Boot: Lionel Messi, Argentina (8)
- Bronze Boot: Jude Bellingham (7)
- FIFA Fair Play: Netherlands
Spain secure World Cup glory to banish miserable Argentina and their anti-football
