Which players are favourites to be FIFA World Cup 2026 award winners?

Published 17 July 2026 · sports

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe are among the biggest stars expected to walk away with at least one individual award. As the FIFA World Cup

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe are among the biggest stars expected to walk away with at least one individual award. As the FIFA World Cup draws to a close, two nations are vying to lift the famous golden champions’ trophy, but several other player and team awards are also up for grabs. Individual brilliance, iconic moments, and team discipline on the field are the key factors deciding the end-of-tournament honours handed out by FIFA at the end of the final. The teams advancing the furthest and their players are leading contenders for the awards, but some are chosen before the final gets under way. Football giants Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe are among the biggest stars expected to walk away with at least one of the awards, which include 🏆Golden Boot 🏆Golden Ball 🏆Golden Glove 🏆Young Player 🏆Fair Play 🏆Goal of the Tournament What’s the FIFA Golden Boot award and how is it decided? FIFA’s Golden Boot is awarded to the player with the most goals at the end of the tournament. France’s Mbappe is the current holder after scoring eight goals in Qatar at the 2022 World Cup. If two players are tied on the same number of goals at the end of the tournament, then the player with the most assists will win the award. If those tiebreakers cannot split two players, then the Golden Boot is handed to the player who achieved their goals and assists in the least number of minutes. Which players are favourites to win the 2026 Golden Boot? Messi and Mbappe are head-to-head in the race for the coveted award as both captains have eight goals and three assists apiece at the tournament so far. The top goal-scorers so far are Kylian Mbappe (France) – 8 goals, 3 assists Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 8 goals, 3 assists Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham (England) – 6 goals, 1 assist each Ousmane Dembele (France) – 6 goals, 2 assists Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain) – 5 goals, 1 assist What’s the Golden Ball award and who are the favourites to win it?

Previous winner: Lionel Messi, Argentina The Golden Ball celebrates outstanding individual performance and is given to the best player of the tournament. A shortlist of candidates is decided by FIFA’s technical study group and voted on by accredited media covering the tournament. Runners-up in the vote are awarded the Silver Ball and Bronze Ball, respectively. First introduced in 1978, the award has often been given to players whose teams have not won the tournament, including Zinedine Zidane (2006), Messi (2014, 2022), and Luka Modric (2018), since voting concludes before the final begins. Oliver Kahn remains the only goalkeeper to have won the award, in 2002. Messi is the only player to have bagged the award twice. The 39-year-old leads the list of this year’s contenders, alongside Mbappe and his compatriot Michael Olise. The other contenders include England’s captain Kane and star player Bellingham, Norwegian star Erling Haaland, and Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha. What’s the Golden Glove award and who could win it? Previous winner: Emiliano Martinez (Argentina) This award is given to the best goalkeeper of the tournament, based on impact, saves, and the number of clean sheets. It was introduced in 1994 and known until 2010 as the Lev Yashin award. Four of the past five winners have come from the eventual champions. This year’s tournament has seen goalkeepers soak up the spotlight for their brilliant saves, most notably Cape Verde’s Vozinha, who shot to overnight fame on social media and is reportedly being considered by Inter Miami. Other standout performances have come from Orlando Gill (Uruguay), Diogo Costa (Portugal), Gregor Kobel (Switzerland), Yassine Bounou (Morocco), and Mostafa Shobeir (Egypt). Who is the favourite to win the Young Player award? First introduced in 2006, this award “celebrates the standout young player whose performances, skill, and impact leave a lasting mark”, for a player younger than 21 years of age, according to FIFA.