The Golden Glove is awarded to the best goalkeeper at the World Cup, and the 2026 edition promises one of the most competitive races for the prize in the tournament’s history.
With World Cup winner betting markets reflecting the importance of a reliable last line of defence in knockout football, the five goalkeepers most likely to define their nations’ campaigns are among the finest in the world. Here is a look at the leading contenders.
Emiliano Martinez
The defending Golden Glove winner and the most psychologically formidable goalkeeper in world football. Martinez claimed the award at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, his penalty shootout heroics against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and against France in the final making him as central to Argentina’s triumph as any outfield player.
He arrives at the 2026 tournament having just kept a clean sheet in the Europa League final against Freiburg, playing the entire match with a broken finger sustained in the warm-up. That willingness to sacrifice his body for the team is as much a part of what makes Martinez exceptional as his shot-stopping.
He finished the Premier League season with eight clean sheets in 32 appearances and a save percentage of 70.7%, solid rather than spectacular numbers that reflect Aston Villa’s mixed defensive form. At international level, however, Martinez operates in an entirely different register, and with Argentina among the favourites to retain their crown, he starts as the bookmakers’ pick to retain his individual award too.
Unai Simon
The undisputed number one for Spain and the goalkeeper who played every minute of their Euro 2024 triumph in Germany. Simon is 28, approaching the peak of his powers, and arrives at his first World Cup as a genuine champion with both club and country.
His ability to command his penalty area, communicate with the defence under pressure, and produce crucial saves in the moments that define knockout football have all been evident across a consistent season with Athletic Bilbao in La Liga. He is not the most flamboyant or headline-grabbing of the five contenders on this list. He is simply reliable, composed, and trusted completely by Luis de la Fuente.
If Spain go all the way, as the pre-tournament markets suggest they might, Simon will have played a central role in keeping them there. The Golden Glove would be a natural consequence.
Alisson Becker
Brazil’s World Cup without Alisson is almost unimaginable. The Liverpool goalkeeper has spent the past four seasons establishing himself as the best shot-stopper in the Premier League and one of the finest in the world, and his distribution and composure on the ball give Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil side a platform to build from the back that few nations can match.
He won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2025 and has been one of the most consistent goalkeepers in European football across the past five years. His tournament pedigree is strong: he was exceptional in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final against Croatia before Brazil were eliminated on penalties, producing several crucial saves that kept them in the match.
Brazil have not won the World Cup since 2002. Alisson knows that no position contributes more to knockout tournament success than the one he occupies. Today match odds football markets will reflect Brazil’s attacking talent, but their defensive platform starts with him.
Mike Maignan
The most underrated goalkeeper on this list, and arguably the one with the highest ceiling. Maignan has spent four seasons at AC Milan producing the kind of performances that have drawn consistent admiration from within the game, and his athleticism, aerial dominance, and shot-stopping reflexes give France a number one whose quality is often overshadowed by the names in front of him.
He won the Serie A title with Milan in 2022 and has been the club’s most consistent performer in subsequent seasons. At international level, he has had to establish himself in a position once occupied by Hugo Lloris, and he has done so with authority and quiet confidence.
France’s strength in every department means the Golden Glove conversation will naturally focus on their outfield stars. Maignan’s case, however, could be made very powerfully indeed if France reach the final, and it would be based on substance rather than sentiment.
Jordan Pickford
The most complicated case on this list, and the one that divides opinion most sharply. Pickford’s club form at Everton has been inconsistent throughout his career, a reflection of a goalkeeper performing behind a defence that has rarely given him the platform to shine. His international form tells a different story.
He has been central to England’s deep runs at the past three major tournaments, his penalty shootout record is exceptional, and his ability to raise his game to the level of the occasion has been one of the defining features of Gareth Southgate’s and now Thomas Tuchel’s England. His reflexes, his distribution under pressure, and his capacity to produce the save that changes a match at the critical moment give England’s tournament aspirations a reliable foundation.
Whether the Golden Glove is a realistic prospect depends almost entirely on how far England go and how many crucial moments Pickford can deliver along the way. The potential is there. It always has been with Pickford. The question, as ever, is consistency.