FIFA's Best Goalkeeper Awards: From Lev Yashin to Golden Glove Winners at World Cups

FIFA has recognized the best goalkeeper at the World Cup with an award since 1994. Initially, this honor was known as the Lev Yashin Award until 2010, after which it was renamed the Golden Glove. The inaugural recipient of this award was Belgium's Michel Preud’homme in 1994, despite his team being eliminated in the round of 16.

The most recent winner of the Golden Glove was Argentina's Emiliano Martinez, who secured the World Cup title with his team. Prior to 1994, FIFA did not present a specific award for the best goalkeeper. However, a goalkeeper was consistently included in the World Cup All-Star team selected for each tournament from 1930 to 1990.

The list of Lev Yashin Award winners includes Michel Preud’homme (Belgium, 1994), Fabien Barthez (France, 1998), Oliver Kahn (Germany, 2002), and Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, 2006). The Golden Glove awardees are Iker Casillas (Spain, 2010), Manuel Neuer (Germany, 2014), Thiebaut Courtois (Belgium, 2018), and Emiliano Martinez (Argentina, 2022).