The key facts
- Safonov finished fourth in the voting for the Lev Yashin Prize for the 2025/26 season
- The award was won by Unai Simón, who became a world champion with the Spanish national team
- Last season Safonov won the French championship and the Champions League with PSG
Fourth in the world
Russian Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Matvey Safonov finished fourth in the voting for the Lev Yashin Prize — the award for the world's best goalkeeper of the 2025/26 season. The results were announced at the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London, as reported by Life.ru.
Who made the top three
The prize went to Unai Simón of Athletic Bilbao and the Spanish national team, who won the World Cup in the summer. Second place went to David Raya of London's Arsenal, and third to Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid. Safonov finished just behind the prize-winners, ahead of Argentine Emiliano Martínez, a two-time winner of the award in 2023 and 2024.
First nomination season and trophies with PSG
For the Russian, this is the first time in his career that he has been among the contenders for the world's best goalkeeper award. In the 2025/26 season, he played 27 matches for PSG in all competitions and kept 12 clean sheets. With the Parisians, he won the French championship, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
Context of the award and the club
The best goalkeeper prize was established in 2019 and named after Lev Yashin — the only goalkeeper in history to win the Ballon d'Or. According to the same publication, PSG itself was named the best club of the season for the second year in a row by France Football: over the past season the Parisians won five trophies, and as many as ten players from the squad were contenders for individual awards, including Safonov on the shortlist for the Yashin Prize.
