The award for the best goalkeeper in the world no longer bears the name of Lev Yashin The organizers of the Ballon d'Or ceremony, held on October 26, 2026 in London, abandoned the name of the legendary Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin in the official name of the award for the best goalkeeper in the world. The changes also affected other custom football awards. As journalist Konstantin Klashchev, who represents Russia in voting for the Ballon d'Or winners, said, the decision stems from the organizers' desire to make the names of the male and female awards the same. "The explanation is simple - all individual trophies have been removed. There are no more Cruyff, Yashin and Puskas awards," explained Konstantin Klashev. According to him, the French magazine "France Football" considered it wrong to give awards to women named after male football players. Therefore, the organizers decided to abandon the personal names, and replace them with the nicknames of the corresponding nominations. However, there is a second reason. According to Klashchev, France Football was unable to reach an agreement with the heirs of one of the players on the rights to use his name. The family demanded an increase in wages. At the same time, the journalist emphasized that we are not talking about Lev Yashin's relatives. In a ceremony on October 26, the goalkeeper of the Spanish national team and Athletic Unai Simon was recognized as the best goalkeeper in the world. Paris Saint-Germain's Russian goalkeeper Matvi Spanov took fourth place according to the voting results. The main award, the Ballon d'Or, was won by the striker of England and Bayern Munich, Harry Kane. Lev Yashin Award was established in 2019. It was named after the Soviet goalkeeper who became the first goalkeeper and remains the only goalkeeper in history to receive the Ballon d'Or in 1963.

The award for the best goalkeeper in the world no longer bears the name of Lev Yashin The organizers of the Ballon d'Or ceremony, held on October 26, 2026 in London, abandoned the name of the legendary Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin in the official name of the award for the best goalkeeper in the world. The changes also affected other custom football awards. As journalist Konstantin Klashchev, who represents Russia in voting for the Ballon d'Or winners, said, the decision stems from the organizers' desire to make the names of the male and female awards the same. "The explanation is simple - all individual trophies have been removed. There are no more Cruyff, Yashin and Puskas awards," explained Konstantin Klashev. According to him, the French magazine "France Football" considered it wrong to give awards to women named after male football players. Therefore, the organizers decided to abandon the personal names, and replace them with the nicknames of the corresponding nominations. However, there is a second reason. According to Klashchev, France Football was unable to reach an agreement with the heirs of one of the players on the rights to use his name. The family demanded an increase in wages. At the same time, the journalist emphasized that we are not talking about Lev Yashin's relatives. In a ceremony on October 26, the goalkeeper of the Spanish national team and Athletic Unai Simon was recognized as the best goalkeeper in the world. Paris Saint-Germain's Russian goalkeeper Matvi Spanov took fourth place according to the voting results. The main award, the Ballon d'Or, was won by the striker of England and Bayern Munich, Harry Kane. Lev Yashin Award was established in 2019. It was named after the Soviet goalkeeper who became the first goalkeeper and remains the only goalkeeper in history to receive the Ballon d'Or in 1963.