Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha nominated for Ballon d’Or

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha was nominated Tuesday for the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year award at the 2026 Ballon d’Or following his standout performances at the World Cup.

The 40-year-old played a key role in Cape Verde’s historic World Cup campaign, producing several impressive performances as the African nation reached the knockout stage on its tournament debut.

In their opening match against Spain, Vozinha made seven saves as Cape Verde held the eventual champions to a goalless draw despite Spain having 74% possession.

The result made Cape Verde the first African team to keep a clean sheet against the eventual champions in a World Cup match.

Vozinha produced another strong display in the knockout stage against Argentina, making eight saves, including one on a close-range effort from Lionel Messi.

His performance, however, was not enough to prevent Cape Verde from suffering a 3-2 defeat after extra time and elimination from the tournament.

Vozinha finished the World Cup with 18 saves in four matches.

Only two goalkeepers aged 40 or older have made more saves at a single World Cup: Italy’s Dino Zoff, who recorded 27 in 1982, and England’s Peter Shilton, who made 28 in 1990.

Following the World Cup, Vozinha moved to Chilean club Colo-Colo and has since amassed more than 29 million followers on Instagram.

The 10-man shortlist does not include reigning goalkeeper award winner Gianluigi Donnarumma, while Liverpool’s Alisson Becker also missed out.

France’s Mike Maignan and England’s Jordan Pickford, who both started for their countries at the World Cup, were also left off the list.

The other nominees are Morocco’s Yassine Bounou, Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois, Spain’s Joan Garcia, Switzerland’s Gregor Kobel, Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez, Senegal’s Edouard Mendy, Spain’s David Raya and Unai Simon, and Russia’s Matvey Safonov.

The winner will be announced at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in London on Oct. 26.