---
title: "Rodri takes the Golden Ball, and Spain takes nearly everything else"
description: "The tournament's best player award went to a holding midfielder who did not score, and the best goalkeeper award to one who conceded once in eight matches. The only major individual prize Spain did not win went to the losing semifinalist who scored the most."
category: "Sports"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/sports
author: "Elias Rosen"
published: 2026-07-20T02:24:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-20T02:24:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/rodri-takes-the-golden-ball-and-spain-takes-nearly-everything-else
tags: ["world-cup", "rodri", "unai-simon", "mbappe", "soccer"]
---
# Rodri takes the Golden Ball, and Spain takes nearly everything else

The tournament's best player award went to a holding midfielder who did not score, and the best goalkeeper award to one who conceded once in eight matches. The only major individual prize Spain did not win went to the losing semifinalist who scored the most.

The individual awards at a World Cup usually go to whoever scored the most memorable goals. This one went, in the main, to the players who stopped things happening.

## Rodri, Golden Ball

The Manchester City midfielder [won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49404995/2026-world-cup-golden-ball-spain-unai-simon-pau-cubarsi), an award that has historically favored attackers and, on several occasions, gone to a player on the losing finalist.

Rodri's case rested on control rather than production. Spain's method through the tournament was to hold the ball, deny opponents rhythm and win matches by narrow margins, and the holding midfielder is the position where that method either functions or collapses. Voters have not often rewarded it. They did here.

## Unai Simón, Golden Glove

Spain's goalkeeper took the Golden Glove having [conceded a single goal across eight matches](https://www.nbcsports.com/soccer/news/2026-world-cup-award-winners-golden-boot-golden-ball-best-young-player-golden-glove).

That figure describes a defense more than a goalkeeper, which is the usual difficulty with the award. It is nonetheless a remarkable number for a tournament of this length, and it is the clearest single statistic explaining how Spain won.

## Pau Cubarsí, Young Player

The Best Young Player award went to Cubarsí, the Barcelona center back, who was a fixture in the Spanish defense throughout.

There is something telling in a 19-year-old defender taking the young player prize in a tournament that also featured Lamine Yamal, his contemporary and a considerably more spectacular footballer. Spain's youth pipeline has produced both, and this month the defender was the one who did not have an off day.

## Kylian Mbappé, Golden Boot

The exception to the Spanish sweep is the award most people notice. Mbappé won the Golden Boot with [10 goals for France](https://www.olympics.com/en/news/fifa-world-cup-2026-golden-ball-golden-boot-golden-glove-complete-list-of-all-awards), edging Lionel Messi, and became the first player to win the scoring award at consecutive men's World Cups.

France finished fourth. That combination, the tournament's most prolific scorer on a team that lost twice in the closing week, is a reasonably efficient summary of why the other three awards went where they did.

## The pattern

Spain won the World Cup with one goal in the final and one goal conceded across the entire tournament. A team assembled that way tends to produce award winners who are hard to make a highlight reel from.

Whether the voting reflects a genuine shift in how the sport evaluates players, or simply follows the champion as it usually does, will be clearer in four years than it is tonight.

## Sources

- [Rodri wins World Cup Golden Ball as Spain dominate awards](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49404995/2026-world-cup-golden-ball-spain-unai-simon-pau-cubarsi)
- [2026 World Cup award winners: Golden Boot, Golden Ball, Best Young Player, Golden Glove](https://www.nbcsports.com/soccer/news/2026-world-cup-award-winners-golden-boot-golden-ball-best-young-player-golden-glove)
- [FIFA World Cup 2026: Golden Ball, Golden Boot, Golden Glove, complete list of all awards](https://www.olympics.com/en/news/fifa-world-cup-2026-golden-ball-golden-boot-golden-glove-complete-list-of-all-awards)