Spain’s World Cup celebrations continued on Sunday as midfield general Rodri won the Golden Ball, with La Roja claiming three of the tournament’s four leading individual awards.
The Manchester City star was named the best player of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after inspiring Spain to their second global title.
Rodri received the honour following Spain’s 1-0 extra-time victory over Argentina in the final at the New York New Jersey Stadium, where substitute Ferran Torres struck the decisive goal in the 106th minute.
The 30-year-old dictated Spain’s tempo throughout the tournament, combining intelligent positioning with precise passing, defensive awareness and calm leadership.
His recognition also completed a remarkable personal comeback after he suffered a serious knee injury less than two years before the tournament.
Rodri now joins Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller and Zinedine Zidane as the only male players to have won the World Cup, European Championship, European Cup or Champions League and Ballon d’Or. Reuters confirmed the historic achievement.
His trophy collection also includes four consecutive Premier League titles, the UEFA Nations League and the Champions League, where he scored Manchester City’s winning goal against Inter Milan in the 2023 final.
Why Rodri deserved the Golden Ball
From a tactical perspective, Rodri’s influence extended far beyond goals and assists. He operated as the link between Spain’s defence and attack, determining when Luis de la Fuente’s side should accelerate play and when they needed to retain possession.
His positional discipline also allowed Spain’s full-backs to advance without leaving the centre-backs dangerously exposed. Whenever possession was lost, Rodri was usually positioned to break up the counterattack or force the opposition away from dangerous central areas.
That influence was evident in Spain’s 2-0 semi-final victory over France. Rodri covered more than 12.5 kilometres while helping restrict a dangerous French attack containing Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise.
The Golden Ball was therefore a fitting recognition of control and consistency rather than simply spectacular moments. Torres provided the goal that won the final, but Rodri supplied the structure that made Spain the tournament’s most balanced team.
Spain also claimed the Golden Glove through goalkeeper Unai Simón, who kept seven clean sheets in eight matches—a new record for a single World Cup.
The Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper conceded only once during the competition, providing the dependable final barrier behind a Spanish defence that proved almost impossible to breach.
Barcelona centre-back Pau Cubarsí completed Spain’s remarkable awards haul by receiving the Best Young Player prize.
The 19-year-old produced composed performances far beyond his age, displaying strong positional awareness, confidence in possession and an ability to defend against some of the competition’s leading attackers.
FIFA’s official awards list confirmed Rodri, Simón and Cubarsí as winners of the Golden Ball, Golden Glove and Best Young Player awards respectively.
Spain did not complete a total sweep, however, as France captain Mbappé won the Golden Boot after scoring 10 goals.
Nevertheless, securing three of the tournament’s four headline individual honours underlined Spain’s collective superiority and the balance that carried De la Fuente’s team to the trophy.
Their triumph came 16 years after Andrés Iniesta’s extra-time goal delivered Spain’s maiden World Cup title against the Netherlands in South Africa.
