2026 World Cup: FIFA Records 8 Man Of The Match Winners So Far

The race for individual honours at the 2026 FIFA World Cup is already gathering pace, with eight players recognised as the tournament’s standout performers after the opening round of group-stage fixtures.

FIFA has been presenting its Superior Player of the Match award after every game, rewarding the player judged to have made the biggest impact on matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Among the early winners is Folarin Balogun, who starred in the United States’ commanding 4-1 win over Paraguay in Los Angeles. The striker scored twice to help his side make an emphatic start to the tournament.

Brazil winger Vinícius Júnior also picked up the award after playing a key role in his country’s 1-1 draw with Morocco in a tightly fought Group C encounter.

The first eight recipients of the award at the 2026 FIFA World Cup are:

June 11

Mexico 2-0 South Africa – Julian Quiñones (Mexico)

South Korea 2-1 Czechia – Hwang In-beom (South Korea)

June 12

Canada 1-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina – Ismael Koné (Canada)

USA 4-1 Paraguay – Folarin Balogun (USA)

June 13

Scotland 1-0 Haiti – John McGinn (Scotland)

Australia 2-0 Türkiye – Nestory Irankunda (Australia)

Brazil 1-1 Morocco – Vinícius Júnior (Brazil)

Qatar 1-1 Switzerland – Mahmoud Abunada (Qatar)

A total of 104 Superior Player of the Match awards will be handed out during the competition, with the final recipient set to be crowned after the World Cup final on July 19 at New York New Jersey Stadium.

Attention now turns to Sunday’s fixtures, with four more group-stage matches on the schedule: Côte d’Ivoire against Ecuador (midnight), Germany versus Curaçao (6 p.m. tonight), Netherlands against Japan (9 p.m. tonight), and Sweden against Tunisia (3 a.m. on Monday morning, June 15).