Ballon d’Or 2026, 10 goalkeeping nominees include Matveï Safonov and Vozinha | OneFootball

The Ballon d’Or 2026 Goalkeeper of the Season shortlist features 10 names, including Paris’s Matveï Safonov and 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, and it promises an open ballot.

According to L'Équipe, the men's field mixes established winners and rising picks, with Thibaut Courtois, the 2022 Yachine winner, and Emiliano Martinez chasing a third crown after 2023 and 2024. Martinez added the Europa League with Aston Villa, but there is no World Cup this time.

Yassine Bounou, third in 2023 and again dependable for Morocco at major tournaments, returns. Édouard Mendy, runner-up to Gianluigi Donnarumma in 2021, delivered the year's standout stop, thwarting Brahim Diaz’s panenka in the Africa Cup of Nations final, and won the Asian Champions League with Al-Ahli.

Unai Simon, second in 2024, has Spain’s world title behind him and the chance to take the final step.

David Raya spent the World Cup on the bench behind the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper after a superb season with Arsenal.

Gregor Kobel collects a second nomination after strong campaigns with Dortmund and as Switzerland’s established keeper, while Spain’s Joan Garcia is now Barcelona’s number one. Winter arrival Matveï Safonov proved decisive in keeping PSG at the summit of club football.

Vozinha brings the summer’s surprise. In just four matches, the Cape Verde goalkeeper amassed millions of followers, made the World Cup team of the tournament, and sealed a move from Portugal’s second tier to Colo-Colo in Chile.

Source: L'Équipe

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