World Cup 2026 Awards — Settled, With the Prices
Available in USFour individual awards, four settled markets — and **one enormous upset**. Spain swept the team-based honours; the Golden Boot went to a fourth-placed Frenchman; and the Golden Ball defied its price completely. Here’s every award, with the closing odds.
Spain lifted the trophy, but the individual awards told their own betting story. Three of the four favourites delivered; one didn’t — and it was the shortest-priced of the lot. For Aussie punters who had money on the specials, this is how each board settled.
Every award at a glance
| Award | Winner | Closing price | Favourite delivered? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Boot | Kylian Mbappé (10 goals) | Mbappé 1.04 | Yes — heavy favourite |
| Golden Ball | Rodri (Spain) | Rodri ~11.00; Messi was fav ~1.11 | No — the big upset |
| Golden Glove | Unai Simón (Spain) | Simón 1.13 | Yes |
| Best Young Player | Pau Cubarsí (Spain) | (not a cleanly tracked market) | — |
Decimal odds, closing prices for the final week (as of 19-20 Jul 2026). Spain took all the team-based awards; only the Boot went elsewhere.
The upset: Rodri’s Golden Ball from ~11.00
Rodri captained the champions and broke the tournament passing record — about 20 months after rupturing his ACL. The Golden Ball podium ran Rodri, then Messi (Silver), then Mbappé (Bronze).
The Golden Boot: Mbappé the lock, decided a day early
Mbappé won the Golden Boot on 10 goals — a back-to-back win, and the first player ever to take the Boot at two World Cups (2022: 8; 2026: 10). At 1.04 he was as short as this market gets, and the bronze-final brace on 18 July that took him to 10 was the decisive move. Messi, on 8, drifted to 13.00 and was held scoreless in the final — the drift proved correct.
| # | Player | Nation | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kylian Mbappé (winner) | France | 10 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 8 |
| 3= | Erling Haaland | Norway | 7 |
| 3= | Jude Bellingham | England | 7 |
| 5= | Harry Kane / Ousmane Dembélé | England / France | 6 |
Most assists: Michael Olise (France) — 7, a new single-tournament assist record, breaking Pelé’s mark.
The Golden Glove: Simón, as priced
Unai Simón took the Golden Glove at 1.13, a comfortable favourite who delivered — 7 clean sheets in the edition, the anchor of the meanest defence any champion has fielded (1 goal conceded in 8 games).
The local angle — Aussies bet the specials, and watched on SBS
With the Socceroos out since the round of 32, Australian interest in the back half of the tournament ran through the outright and the specials — and the awards boards were where the value hid. The final itself drew a record 5.26 million to SBS, the broadcaster’s biggest World Cup audience ever, streamed free on SBS On Demand. The lesson for next time: the short-priced award favourites mostly held, but the one odds-on “certainty” (Messi’s Golden Ball) is exactly where the upset came.
What they said
"It feels like the perfect script. I certainly didn’t expect this." — Rodri, Golden Ball winner, as translated by The National (20 Jul 2026)
"I’d love for the younger generations to see that a player who touches the heavens, then descends into hell, can come back. It’s a lesson in overcoming adversity." — Rodri, on his ACL comeback, as translated by The National (20 Jul 2026)
- Golden Boot: Mbappé (10) at 1.04 — heavy favourite, back-to-back, decided by his bronze-game brace.
- Golden Ball: Rodri from ~11.00 — the tournament’s biggest upset; favourite Messi (~1.11) took Silver.
- Golden Glove: Unai Simón at 1.13 — favourite delivered, 7 clean sheets.
- Best Young Player: Pau Cubarsí — Spain swept every team-based award; only the Boot went elsewhere.
- Michael Olise set a single-tournament assist record with 7, past Pelé.
More: the full final recap, Spain’s world-record run, Messi’s ending and the top-scorer odds page.
