World Cup: The last five winners of the Fair Play Trophy
The FIFA Fair Play Trophy is one of the least discussed but most meaningful awards at the World Cup, recognising the team that progresses to the knockout rounds while maintaining the highest standards of sportsmanship throughout the group stage.
With sports betting odds dominating the conversation ahead of the 2026 tournament, the Fair Play Trophy offers a reminder that how a team conducts itself on the pitch matters as much as whether it wins. Here is a look at the last five winners.
England: 2022
England's most recent piece of World Cup silverware, if it can be called that, arrived not for their football but for their conduct. The Three Lions won the Fair Play Trophy at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, recognised for their disciplinary record across the group stage and into the knockout rounds, where they were eventually eliminated by France in the quarter-finals.It was a bittersweet consolation for a squad that had genuine aspirations of going further, but the award reflected a team that competed within the rules with a consistency that not every nation in the field could match. England have now won the Fair Play Trophy three times in total, in 1990, 1998, and 2022.
Spain: 2018
Spain won the Fair Play Trophy in Russia having reached the round of 16 before losing to host nation Russia on penalties, one of the most surprising knockout exits of the tournament. Their disciplinary record across the group stage, where they finished behind Portugal on goal difference, was exemplary, and the award reflected a squad that combined technical quality with a consistent respect for the laws of the game.It was Spain's second Fair Play Trophy, having also claimed the award in 2010, and the third of their collection overall.
Colombia: 2014
Colombia's 2014 World Cup in Brazil was one of the tournament's great stories. James Rodriguez won the Golden Boot, the team played some of the most attractive football of the competition, and their Fair Play Trophy recognised a squad that conducted itself with distinction throughout.They reached the quarter-finals before losing to the host nation, and their group stage performances in particular were characterised by an attacking intent and a discipline that the FIFA Technical Study Group acknowledged with the award.
For a nation still rebuilding its footballing reputation following the tragic events of 1994, when Andres Escobar was killed after scoring an own goal against the United States, the 2014 Fair Play Trophy carried particular symbolic weight.
Spain: 2010
Spain's 2010 World Cup triumph in South Africa was the most complete team performance the tournament had seen in years, and their Fair Play Trophy that year reflected a side that won the world's biggest prize while maintaining the highest standards of conduct throughout.They conceded just twice in seven matches, won every knockout game by a single goal, and did it all without accumulating significant disciplinary issues. The combination of the World Cup trophy and the Fair Play Trophy in the same year is an achievement only the very best teams can aspire to, and it underlined the total quality of Vicente del Bosque's side.
Brazil and Spain: 2006
The 2006 World Cup in Germany was one of only two occasions in the award's history when the trophy was shared between two nations, the other being 1998 when England and France were joint winners. Brazil and Spain both progressed from the group stage with exemplary disciplinary records, and FIFA determined that no single nation had distinguished itself sufficiently above the other to claim the award outright.Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals by France, while Spain went out in the round of 16 to France as well. Using the World Cup Predictor 2026 to assess either nation's chances ahead of North America, both arrive as genuine contenders again, with Brazil under Carlo Ancelotti carrying the weight of a nation desperate for a sixth world title, and Spain, as European champions, among the outright tournament favourites. Whether either adds to their Fair Play Trophy collection this
World Cup 2026 fixture