Unai Simón takes home the trophy

On Monday 26 October, London hosted the Ballon d'Or ceremony. Among the various awards presented during the evening was the Goalkeeper of the Season award, won by Unai Simón of Athletic Bilbao.

The Spaniard scored 351 points following an impressive campaign with Spain at this year’s World Cup.

See the full rankings for the Goalkeeper of the Season award at the 2026 Ballon d'Or:

  1. Unai Simón (Athletic Bilbao / Spain) – 351 points

  2. David Raya (Arsenal / Spain) – 223 points

  3. Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid / Belgium) – 77 points

  4. Matvey Safonov (Paris Saint-Germain / Russia) – 67 points

  5. Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa / Argentina) – 61 points

  6. Vozinha (Chaves / Cape Verde) – 45 points

  7. Joan García (Spain / Barcelona) – 34 points

  8. Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal / Morocco) – 30 points

  9. Édouard Mendy (Al-Ahli / Senegal) – 8 points

  10. Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund / Switzerland) – 4 points

Vozinha’s remarkable career

One of the names that stands out most in the rankings is Vozinha. At 40, the goalkeeper made history at this year’s World Cup, with several standout performances for Cape Verde in the national team’s first appearance in the tournament.

Among his finest moments were the draw against Uruguay, two-time champions of the competition, and his clean sheet against Spain, who would go on to win the title.

In a short space of time, the experienced goalkeeper became one of the most recognisable and beloved figures in world football.

After the tournament, he signed for Chilean side Colo-Colo and rounded off an incredible year with yet another reason to celebrate: he won the Chilean League title with the club and received a nomination for the Goalkeeper of the Season award at the 2026 Ballon d'Or.

The first Cape Verdean player to be nominated for an award at a Ballon d'Or ceremony, Vozinha finished in sixth place with 45 points.

How did the voting work?

As with the men’s Ballon d'Or, the ranking for the Goalkeeper of the Season award was determined by an international jury of specialist journalists, with one representative per country from among the top 100 in the FIFA rankings at the time the nominees were announced.

Each member of the jury selected three goalkeepers, in order of preference. The names were awarded 5, 3 and 1 point respectively. The trophy was awarded to the goalkeeper who scored the most points – in this case, Unai Simón.

A closer look at the votes reveals that representatives from 21 different countries included ‘Vozinha’ amongst their top three choices, contributing to his impressive sixth-place finish.

Most of these votes placed the Cape Verdean in second or third place. Two jury members, however, went a step further and chose him as their first choice: Samm Audu from Nigeria and Calvin Kaumba Chikenge from Zambia.

Interestingly, Cape Verde’s representative on the jury, Simão Rodrigues, did not include Vozinha amongst his top three. Instead, he ranked Unai Simón first, Thibaut Courtois second and David Raya third.

All the votes received by Vozinha

See the list of the 21 representatives who included the Cape Verdean goalkeeper amongst their top three favourites, with their respective rankings:

  • South Africa (Mark Gleeson – Reuters) – 3rd place

  • Australia (Daniel Garb – Network Ten) – 3rd place

  • Cameroon (Emmanuel Gustave Samnick – L’Actu Sport / Notre Afrik) – 2nd place

  • China (Luo Ming – Titan Sports) – 3rd place

  • Colombia (Paché Andrade – Fútbol al minuto) – 3rd place

  • South Korea (Kim Yong-il – Sports Seoul) – 2nd place

  • Ivory Coast (Adam Khalil – sport-ivoire.ci) – 2nd place

  • Costa Rica (Rodrigo Antonio Calvo Castro – Buzón de Rodrigo) – 3rd place

  • Slovenia (Aleš Potocnik – RTV Slovenija) – 3rd place

  • United States (Paul Kennedy – Soccer America) – 3rd place

  • Haiti (Jean Pierre Étienne – Radio Ibo) – 2nd place

  • Honduras (Francisco Antonio Rivas – Emisión Deportes) – 3rd place

  • Iceland (Víðir Sigurðsson – Freelance) – 2nd place

  • Jordan (Husam Barakat – Roya TV) – 2nd place

  • Montenegro (Danilo Mitrović – ND Vijesti) – 3rd place

  • Nigeria (Samm Audu – Scorenigeria) – 1st place

  • Sweden (Anders Bengtsson – Offside) – 2nd place

  • Ukraine (Igor Linnyk – FootClub) – 3rd place

  • Uzbekistan (Narzulla Saydullaev – championat.asia) – 2nd place

  • Vietnam (Trương Anh Ngọc – The Thao / Van Hoa) – 3rd place

  • Zambia (Calvin Kaumba Chikenge – BolaNews) – 1st place

Recognition that transcended borders

Vozinha didn’t take the trophy home, but his sixth-place finish and the votes he received from 21 countries demonstrate the scope of his career. From a historic World Cup debut to a nomination on football’s biggest individual stage, the Cape Verdean goalkeeper has earned a place amongst the greats in his position – and made his mark far beyond his country’s borders.