With the knockouts thinning the field, the race for the 2026 World Cup Golden Glove is wide open. France's Mike Maignan and Morocco's Yassine Bounou have carried clean sheets into the quarter-finals, the holder Emiliano Martinez has dragged Argentina through on penalties again, and a clutch of the best keepers in the game are still in the frame. Here is who leads the chase for the best goalkeeper of the tournament.
The Golden Glove goes to the best goalkeeper of the World Cup, chosen by FIFA's Technical Study Group rather than by any single number.
Clean sheets carry the most weight, but the panel also judges the difficulty and timing of saves, command of the box and distribution. That is why the award is so tied to the knockouts: a keeper who barely concedes on the way to the final is the classic winner. For the goals at the other end of the pitch, see our Golden Boot race, and for the best player overall the Golden Ball contenders.
Ranked by their case as the quarter-finals begin, from the front-runners to the outsiders who could climb with a deep run.
France, AC Milan. Our front-runner. Maignan kept a clean sheet in the 1-0 Round of 16 win over Paraguay and has conceded rarely behind a genuine title contender. Elite shot-stopping plus modern sweeping and passing. If France reach MetLife, he is very hard to beat.
Morocco, Al Hilal. The 2022 semi-final hero is at it again, saving a penalty in the Round of 32 shootout win over the Netherlands and then shutting out Canada 3-0 in the last 16. If Morocco keep rolling, Bounou surges to the top.
Argentina, Aston Villa. The holder and the danger man. Dibu dragged Argentina past Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time with his usual shootout nerve. No keeper has ever won the Golden Glove twice, but he is chasing exactly that.
Spain, Athletic Club. Steady behind a Spain side full of control and possession. Simon has not been overworked, but the clean sheets are ticking over, and if the Euro 2024 champions go deep his numbers will be among the best.
England, Everton. A big-game keeper with a strong shootout record for England. If Gareth Southgate's successors reach the semis and Pickford produces a defining save, he vaults into contention as he has at past tournaments.
Portugal, FC Porto. Among the best young keepers in the world, Costa anchored a Portugal defence that conceded just once in Group K. A tougher knockout road as group runners-up is the only thing holding his case back.
Brazil, Liverpool. Experience and calm behind a Brazil side chasing a sixth star. Alisson rarely makes headlines because he rarely needs to, but a deep run would put one of the world's most complete keepers in the frame.
United States, New York City FC. The co-hosts' number one and a proven penalty specialist. A home run to the latter stages would make Freese, the man behind Christian Pulisic, a genuine outside shout.
It is a three-way fight at the top, and the semi-finals should settle it.
Our pick as the quarter-finals begin is Mike Maignan, narrowly ahead of Yassine Bounou, with Emiliano Martinez the man nobody wants to face in a shootout. Maignan's clean sheets behind a France side that looks built to win it give him the strongest platform, the classic Golden Glove profile of a keeper who barely concedes on the way to the final. Bounou's shootout heroics and Morocco's momentum keep it desperately close, and the holder Dibu Martinez has already reminded everyone why he took the award in 2022. The rule of thumb holds: whoever gets the furthest with the fewest goals conceded will lift it. Track the survivors on the results page and the road ahead in our quarter-finals preview.
The Golden Glove is one of several individual races running through the knockouts. Explore the rest of the WorldCuply.com guide:
The chase for top scorer: the contenders, how the award and tiebreakers work, and who leads the goals race.
See the race ›The race for player of the tournament: the form players carrying their teams into the knockouts.
Read the spotlight ›The 2022 semi-finalists and their run in 2026, with Bounou again the hero between the posts.
See the squad ›The last eight: dates, venues and the matchups that will decide who reaches the semi-finals.
See the preview ›The award history, the contenders and the knockout results were checked against official and authoritative sources:
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