Belgium
Belgium news
'A fair price' for 'combative' Gomes
Aston Villa needed to move after Amadou Onana suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury on duty at the World Cup with Belgium, which threw a major spanner in Villa's transfer plans this summer. With Youri Tielemans being sold, Villa had a gaping hole in their midfield, even if Boubacar Kamara is due to return from his own serious knee injury, which he suffered in January. Joao Gomes arrives with the experience and Premier League know-how to hit the ground running under manager Unai Emery.
Lammens 'very strong mentally' - Heaton
Tom Heaton is backing Manchester United team-mate Senne Lammens to emerge as a stronger character from his World Cup disappointment. Lammens had been back-up to Thibaut Courtois throughout the tournament until the veteran Belgium goalkeeper was injured 19 minutes from the end of the quarter-final against Spain. The 24-year-old had barely touched the ball before he spilled Pau Cubarsi's shot late in the game, which allowed Arsenal's Mikel Merino to steer home and give Spain a 2-1 victory.
List of World Cup Golden Glove winners: Every best goalkeeper award by year
The list of Golden Glove winner is short, but the goalkeepers in it had great performances. Every player on a team is important for success at the highest level of competition, but goalkeepers didn’t get recognized with a positional award until 1994 with the prize that is now called the Golden Glove. In its origin the trophy was named the Lev Yashin Award that determined who was the best goalkeeper of the competition. The name logically referred to the Soviet former player who remains the best ever at the position for many people. This was changed for the 2010 edition, when the award was renamed the Golden Glove. Being relatively new compared to the history of the competition, there have only been eight winners of the prized award, with four of them also becoming champions. The winner is chosen by FIFA’s Technical Study Group. Every Golden Glove winner World CupGolden Glove winnerTeamClean sheetsTeam’s finish1994Michel Preud’hommeBelgium2Round of 161998Fabien BarthezFrance5Champions2002Oliver Kahn*Germany5Runners-up2006Gianluigi BuffonItaly5Champions2010Iker CasillasSpain5Champions2014Manuel NeuerGermany4Champions2018Thibaut CourtoisBelgium3Third place2022Emiliano MartínezArgentina3Champions2026Unai SimónSpain7Champions*Also won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player in 2002.
Why isn’t Nico Williams starting for Spain against Argentina in the 2026 World Cup final?
Nico Williams has been left out from Spain's starting lineup for the 2026 World Cup final against Argentina. Nico Williams entered the 2026 World Cup as one of Spain‘s most highly anticipated talents and one of the most dangerous wingers in the world. However, for today’s championship clash against Argentina at MetLife Stadium, the Athletic Bilbao standout will have to wait for his opportunity from the substitutes’ bench. Williams will miss out on the starting eleven due to a calculated tactical decision by manager Luis de la Fuente. While the explosive winger has fully recovered from his recent injury, the Spanish boss has opted to stick with the core lineup that successfully navigated the knockout rounds to reach the final. Instead, De la Fuente has handed the starting nod to Alex Baena on the left flank. This tactical setup leaves Spain with Lamine Yamal patrolling the right wing and Mikel Oyarzabal leading the line at center forward, maintaining the exact attacking trio that started the previous matches, including the semifinal victory over France. A World Cup filled with obstacles for Williams Throughout Spain’s recent competitive cycles, including their title runs in Euro 2024 and the 2025 UEFA Nations League, Williams has been indispensable as a dynamic threat down the left flank. His partnership with Lamine Yamal previously gave La Roja one of the most exciting young wing duos in international soccer, but with both stars entering this World Cup carrying injuries, the Spanish attack occasionally looked static and predictable. Nico Williams #17 of Spain is fouled by Nicolas de la Cruz #7 of Uruguay. After being managed carefully as a second-half substitute in Spain’s opening three group matches, Williams suffered a heavy knock against Uruguay that aggravated his underlying muscular issue. The setback proved costly, forcing him to watch from the sidelines as an unused substitute during the knockout victories over Austria and Portugal. While he finally made his return to action with brief cameos off the bench against Belgium and France, he has struggled to find his usual rhythm or impact the scoresheet. In total, the winger has appeared in five matches during this World Cup campaign but has logged just 76 minutes on the pitch, a frustrating reality far below what was expected of him before the tournament kicked off.