40-year-old with no club during the World Cup nominated for Ballon d'or honour

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FT Desk

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha has been nominated for the Best Goalkeeper award for this year's upcoming Ballon d'Or ceremony.

The 40-year-old, who did not even have a club during the World Cup after leaving Chaves, emerged as one of the cult heroes of the tournament, with his herculean performances against Spain and Argentina earning him legions of new fans.

Incredibly, he earned over 28 million new followers on Instagram following his World Cup exploits. Before the tournament, he had around 50,000 followers and now his follower count stands at 28.8 million.

The other nominees for the award are Yassine Bounou, Thibaut Courtois, Joan Garcia, Gregor Kobel, Emiliano Martinez, Edouard Mendy, David Raya, Matvey Safonov and Unai Simon.

The current Yashin Trophy holder is Gianluigi Donnarumma but the Italian isn't even nominated in 2026.

Following the World Cup, Vozinha earned a move to Colo Colo on an 18-month deal.

Nominated for the 2026 Men's Goalkeeper of the Year ⬇️

🇲🇦 Yassine Bounou
🇧🇪 Thibaut Courtois
🇪🇸 Joan García
🇨🇭 Gregor Kobel
🇦🇷 Emiliano Martínez
🇸🇳 Édouard Mendy
🇪🇸 David Raya
🇷🇺 Matvey Safonov
🇪🇸 Unai Simón
🇨🇻 Vozinha#ballondor pic.twitter.com/WFvHYOqC5q

— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) September 8, 2026

New species named after Vozinha

Vozinha was honoured in a unique way after the World Cup, with a species of animal named after him.

The animal in question is a new species of sea slug discovered in the Caribbean by biologist Jesus Ortea, who has previously named other species after former Real Madrid stopper Keylor Navas and Sporting Gijon forward Quini.

"A new species of the genus Aldisa Begh, 1878, extracted from the Caribbean remnant of the study collection of the first author, characterised by its bright red color, tubers of the mantle, jaws and radula is described," Oreta's research read.

"Other species of the genre described by the author are included in the article along with those dedicated to two other charismatic soccer players, Keylor Navas from Costa Rica and the Spaniard Enrique Castro Quini.

"The species is dedicated to Vozinha, the goalkeeper of the Cape Verde soccer team, Spain's first rival in the 2026 World Cup."

Vozinha follows in the footsteps of both Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, both of whom have had animal species named after them previously.