Unai Simon and Cata Coll Win Yashin Trophy in London, Simon Conceded Just Once in Eight World Cup Matches

Spain's Unai Simon has won the Lev Yashin Trophy for the year's best goalkeeper at the Ballon d'Or ceremony held at the Palladium Theatre in London. The men's award went to the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper. In the women's category, Barcelona's Cata Coll was named the best goalkeeper.

Both goalkeepers received the honour at the same ceremony. The Yashin Trophy, recognised as the award for the world's best goalkeeper, this year went to two Spanish goalkeepers — Simon in the men's category and Coll in the women's category.

Simon had to finish ahead of nine other goalkeepers to win the award. That list included Morocco's Yassine Bounou, Belgium's Thibaut Courtois, Spain's Joan Garcia and David Raya, Switzerland's Gregor Kobel, Argentina's Emiliano Martinez, Senegal's Edouard Mendy, Russia's Matvey Safonov and Cape Verde's Vozinha.

Spain's World Cup victory played a major part in Simon's recognition. He conceded only one goal in eight matches at the 2026 World Cup. That performance also earned him the Golden Glove, the award for the tournament's best goalkeeper.

The Spanish goalkeeper also set a new record by going 650 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal at the World Cup. One goal conceded in eight matches, the Golden Glove and that record were the achievements cited as putting Simon ahead in the race for the Yashin Trophy.

In the women's category, Coll's success was built on Barcelona's trophy-winning season. With her guarding the goal, the team won Liga F, the Copa de la Reina, the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa Catalunya. Barcelona also won the Women's Champions League title.