While the World Cup’s biggest individual honors usually go to the goalscorers and playmakers, there is one award reserved for the players who keep the goals out: the Golden Glove, given to the best goalkeeper of each tournament. It is a celebration of the shot-stoppers, the penalty-savers, and the commanding presences between the posts who so often build championship runs from the back.
The award has a rich history and a famous namesake. Introduced in 1994 as the Lev Yashin Award, after the legendary Soviet goalkeeper widely considered the greatest ever, it was renamed the Golden Glove from 2010 onward. In its three decades, it has been won by an all-star list of goalkeeping greats, from Oliver Kahn and Gianluigi Buffon to Iker Casillas, Manuel Neuer, and Emiliano Martinez.
The chart below lists every World Cup Golden Glove winner by year, with their country and how their team finished, plus the records and standout stories behind the award. Take a look, then we’ll get into the details.
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What the Golden Glove is, and its famous name
The Golden Glove is the World Cup award given to the best goalkeeper of the tournament, the goalkeeping equivalent of the Golden Boot for top scorer and the Golden Ball for best overall player. It was first handed out at the 1994 World Cup, and for its first several editions it carried a different name: the Lev Yashin Award. The honor was named after Lev Yashin, the legendary Soviet goalkeeper of the 1950s and 60s who is widely regarded as the greatest the position has ever seen, and the only goalkeeper ever to win the Ballon d’Or.
FIFA renamed the trophy the “Golden Glove” from the 2010 World Cup, bringing it in line with the tournament’s other individual awards, though the criteria stayed the same. The winner is not chosen by public vote but is selected by FIFA’s Technical Study Group, a panel that assesses each goalkeeper’s clean sheets, saves, and overall influence on their team’s run. Because deep tournament progress gives a keeper more chances to shine, the award often, though not always, goes to a goalkeeper from one of the leading teams.
The complete list of winners
Since 1994, eight goalkeepers have won the award, one at each World Cup. Belgium’s Michel Preud’homme was the inaugural winner in 1994, remarkably earning it despite his side exiting in the Round of 16, a testament to his string of brilliant saves. He was followed by France’s Fabien Barthez (1998), the rock behind Les Bleus’ home triumph, and Germany’s Oliver Kahn (2002), whose heroics dragged his team to the final. Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon (2006) and Spain’s Iker Casillas (2010) then won it as world champions.
The most recent winners are Germany’s Manuel Neuer (2014), Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois (2018), and Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez (2022). Martinez’s win is historic in one important way: he is the only non-European goalkeeper ever to claim the award, every other winner has come from a European nation. His shootout heroics against the Netherlands and France were central to Argentina’s 2022 title and made him an obvious choice.
The records: nations, doubles, and a unique feat
A few interesting records stand out across the award’s history. No goalkeeper has ever won the Golden Glove twice, meaning every tournament has produced a fresh winner. Only two nations have produced multiple winners: Germany (Kahn in 2002 and Neuer in 2014) and Belgium (Preud’homme in 1994 and Courtois in 2018). Seven of the eight winners have been European, with Martinez the sole exception, and five of the eight also lifted the World Cup trophy in the same year.
The most unique achievement belongs to Oliver Kahn in 2002. He is the only player ever to win both the Golden Glove and the Golden Ball, the award for the tournament’s best overall player, in the same World Cup, an extraordinary feat for a goalkeeper. Kahn was virtually unbeatable throughout the tournament, playing through ligament damage in a finger, until a rare fumble in the final allowed Brazil’s Ronaldo to score, denying Germany the title in a cruel twist to an otherwise heroic campaign.
The keepers who missed out
Because the award only began in 1994, a number of legendary goalkeepers never had the chance to win it. The most cited example is England’s Gordon Banks, whose performances in 1966, when England won the World Cup, and 1970, featuring his famous save against Pele, would surely have earned him the honor had it existed. The very man the award was originally named after, Lev Yashin, also predated it; he starred at the 1958, 1962, and 1966 tournaments but never received the trophy that now bears his legacy.
It is worth noting that a separate award, the Yashin Trophy, was established by France Football in 2019 to honor the best goalkeeper of a club season. That is a distinct honor from the World Cup’s Golden Glove, though both pay tribute to the same legendary figure. Recent winners of the club Yashin Trophy include Martinez and Courtois, two of the World Cup Golden Glove winners as well.
The 2026 race
With the 2026 World Cup underway, the next Golden Glove is still to be decided, and it will be awarded after the final on July 19. The headline storyline is whether Emiliano Martinez can become the first-ever two-time winner, as Argentina look to defend their title. He enters as one of the favorites, alongside a strong field that includes Spain’s Unai Simon, France’s Mike Maignan, Brazil’s Alisson and Ederson, and 2018 winner Thibaut Courtois of Belgium.
As ever, the eventual winner will depend heavily on which goalkeeper enjoys the deepest tournament run and produces the defining saves when it matters most. With the award decided on clean sheets, saves, and overall impact, the goalkeeper who backstops a championship run will be hard to overlook. By the time the trophy is lifted in New Jersey, a ninth name will join this exclusive list.
Final Word
The World Cup Golden Glove, the Lev Yashin Award until 2010, has crowned the best goalkeeper of every tournament since 1994, from Michel Preud’homme to Emiliano Martinez. With eight winners, no repeat champions, and only Germany and Belgium producing two each, it is a roll call of the position’s modern greats, headlined by Oliver Kahn’s unique Golden Glove and Golden Ball double in 2002.
As the 2026 tournament unfolds, a new name will be added, with Martinez chasing history as a potential first two-time winner. For more on the World Cup’s individual honors, see our guide to the Golden Boot winners by year.