The World Cup Golden Glove has only been an official award since 1994.
First won by Michel Preud’homme, five nations have provided Golden Glove winners, with two coming from Germany and Belgium.
Collecting clean sheets is the best way to build a Golden Glove case. While there are a lot of great goalkeepers at this winter’s World Cup, this award is as much about the defence in front of them as it is the man between the sticks.
Best odds for the World Cup 2022 Golden Glove
| Team | Odd | Where to bet |
| Alisson | 9/2 | Bet365 |
| Thibaut Cortois | 6/1 | BetVictor |
| Manuel Neuer | 7/1 | BetVictor |
| Emiliano Martinez | 8/1 | William Hill |
| Unai Simon | 9/1 | BetVictor |
The favourite: Alisson (Brazil)
With Brazil listed as the pre-tournament favourites, it is inevitable their players are at the top of the individual award markets.
Liverpool’s Alisson hasn’t had the easiest start to the season, with Jurgen Klopp’s side leaking goals, but Brazil have a stellar defensive record with just five goals conceded in their last 12 matches.
But Cameroon, Switzerland and Serbia makes for a tricky group where clean sheets will be harder to come by than for some other teams. Unless convinced Brazil are going all the way, this price is too short.
Thibaut Cortois (Belgium)
Looking to become the first goalkeeper ever to win the Golden Glove more than once, Thibaut Courtois trails Alisson in the pre-tournament betting. Courtois’ candidacy is about more than clean sheets.
Belgium are relentlessly attacking, often leaving their defence exposed. Courtois will inevitably concede goals, but Belgium rely on his shot-stopping ability, particularly when facing other top-tier nations.
Courtois has immense experience in high-pressure situations, and was exceptional for Real Madrid in the 2021-22 Champions League. The risk of Belgium going out in the last 16 makes this price unappealing, however.
Manuel Neuer (Germany)
Manuel Neuer became the second German to win the award in 2014. Like with Courtois, the difficulty of the draw contributes to this price.
Germany could face Belgium in the round of 16, and progressing from their group isn’t a foregone conclusion if they slip up against Japan or Costa Rica.
Still capable of impressive saves and clearly an important member of Die Mannschaft’s squad, Neuer seems more of an outsider for the Golden Glove than this 7/1 price might indicate.
Germany haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last seven matches. Pair that with poor showings at the last two major tournaments and it’s hard to justify backing the Bayern ‘keeper at this price.
Emiliano Martinez (Argentina)
Argentina’s World Cup odds have shortened over the last few weeks. Lionel Messi is second-favourite for the Golden Ball. Their goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is fourth in Golden Glove batting, however, despite Argentina conceding one goal in their last seven matches.
A group with Saudi Arabia, Poland and Mexico presents opportunity for at least a couple of clean sheets, too.
Advanced metrics have Martinez as a below average goalkeeper over the last 365 days, but if Argentina reach the last four or better, all it takes is a few clean sheets and some key saves for Martinez to become the first South American to win the Golden Glove.
Unai Simon (Spain)
Unai Simón is first-choice goalkeeper for a Spain team with six clean sheets in its last 10 matches. Iker Casillas won the Golden Glove with an almost perfect record 12 years ago, and the Spaniards will be hoping Simón can replicate those performances in Qatar.
Simón has kept clean sheets in two of his last three appearances for Athletic, and made eight saves away to Girona on 4th November.
While Spain aren’t among the tournament favourites, Simón has a shot at clean sheets against Costa Rica and Japan, and La Roja could avoid Belgium in the round of 16 if they win the group.
Bettors can certainly talk themselves into backing Simón at this price.
Notable outsiders to claim the World Cup 2022 Golden Glove
Diogo Costa (Portugal)
There is a degree of uncertainty between the sticks for Portugal.
Diogo Costa appears in pole position to start ahead of Rui Patricio, however, and the Porto goalkeeper is an intriguing Golden Glove bet at 14/1.
Fernando Santos is a pragmatic manager. Portugal’s football has rarely been scintillating under his leadership, but that safety-first mentality can be very effective in tournament football, and could help Costa record the required clean sheets to put him in Golden Glove contention if Os Navegadores go on a run. There’s definitely value here.
Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark)
Denmark have kept just three clean sheets in 10 matches, yet they are a form team heading into the World Cup. A semi-final appearance at the Euros and a strong Nations League showing has the Danes among the most popular dark horse picks.
Kasper Schmeichel isn’t the same calibre as many at the top of this market, but he still has a knack for the spectacular and could produce some tournament-altering saves. Of the longer odds options, Schmeichel stands out at 33/1.
All goalkeepers of the World Cup
Ecuador
- Hernan Galindez
- Moises Ramirez
- Alexander Dominguez
Netherlands
- Remko Pasveer
- Justin Bijlow
- Andries Noppert
Qatar
- Saad Al-Sheeb
- Yousef Hassan
- Meshaal Barsham
Senegal
- Edouard Mendy
- Seny Dieng
- Alfred Gomis
England
- Jordan Pickford
- Nick Pope
- Aaron Ramsdale
Iran
- Alireza Beiranvand
- Payam Niazmand
- Hossein Hosseini
United States
- Matt Turner
- Ethan Horvath
- Sean Johnson
Wales
- Wayne Hennessey
- Danny Ward
- Adam Davies
Argentina
- Franco Armani
- Geronimo Rulli
- Emiliano Martinez
Mexico
- Alfredo Talavera
- Rodolfo Cota
- Guillermo Ochoa
Poland
- Wojciech Szczesny
- Lukasz Skorupski
- Kamil Grabara
Saudi Arabia
- Mohammed Al-Rubaie
- Mohammed Al-Owais
- Nawaf Al-Aqidi
Australia
- Matthew Ryan
- Andrew Redmayne
- Danny Vukovic
Denmark
- Kasper Schmeichel
- Oliver Christensen
- Frederik Ronnow
France
- Hugo Lloris
- Steve Mandanda
- Alphonse Areola
Tunisia
- Aymen Mathlouthi
- Aymen Dahmen
- Bechir Ben Saïd
Tunisia
- Aymen Mathlouthi
- Aymen Dahmen
- Bechir Ben Saïd
Costa Rica
- Keylor Navas
- Esteban Alvarado
- Patrick Sequeira
Germany
- Manuel Neuer
- Kevin Trapp
- Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Japan
- Eiji Kawashima
- Shūichi Gonda
- Daniel Schmidt
Spain
- Robert Sanchez
- David Raya
- Unai Simon
Belgium
- Thibaut Cortois
- Simon Mignolet
- Koen Casteels
Canada
- Dayne St. Clair
- James Pantemis
- Milan Borjan
Croatia
- Dominik Livaković
- Ivo Grbić
- Ivica Ivušić
Morocco
- Yassine Bounou
- Munir Mohamedi
- Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti
Brazil
- Alisson
- Weverton
- Ederson
Cameroon
- Simon Ngapandouetnbu
- Devis Epassy
- André Onana
Serbia
- Marko Dmitrović
- Predrag Rajković
- Vanja Milinković-Savić
Switzererland
- Yann Sommer
- Jonas Omlin
- Gregor Kobel
Ghana
- Lawrence Ati-Zigi
- Ibrahim Danlad
- Abdul Manaf Nurudeen
Portugal
- Rui Patricio
- Jose Sa
- Diogo Costa
South Korea
- Kim Seung-gyu
- Song Bum-keun
- Jo Hyeon-woo
Uruguay
- Fernando Muslera
- Sebastián Sosa
- Sergio Rochet
All odds are subject to change
