FIFA World Cup 2022: Winners of Golden Ball Awards

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is nearly here, and teams and fans are enthusiastic. As with every World Cup, the top players will be in Qatar, and while the trophy is the ultimate prize, there are individual awards too.

The Qatar FIFA World Cup will have five individual prizes. These are the Golden Boot (top scorer), Golden Glove (best goalie), FIFA Young Player Award, FIFA Fair Play award, and FIFA Golden Ball (best player of the world cup). Only three World Cup winners won the Golden Ball. In 1994, Romario, a Golden Ball winner for Brazil, won the World Cup. Since then, the winner has reached the final but has yet to win.

Below is a list of all the winners of the Golden Ball:

Paolo Rossi (1982, Italy)

Rossi scored a hat trick to lead Italy to victory over Brazil in the semi-finals, and he scored the game-winning goal in Italy’s 3-2 win over West Germany in the finals. As the tournament’s all-time leading scorer, he scored the most goals and earned the Golden Ball for the first time.

Diego Maradona (1986, Argentina)

With his performance in the 1986 World Cup, Maradona cemented his place in history. The two goals he scored in the quarterfinal match against England were overshadowed by the infamous “Hand of God” goal, which resulted from his gathering the ball with his hand to help him. He scored twice against Belgium in the semi-finals and assisted on Jorge Burruchaga’s game-winning goal against West Germany in the championship match.

Salvatore Schillachi (1990, Italy)

Schillaci won the Golden Ball, becoming the second Italian to do so. By beating out England for third place, he aided Italy. He scored in the semi-final against Argentina and again in the third-place match to seal the victory.

Romario (1994, Brazil)

One of the best soccer players of all time, Romario, was honoured with the Golden Ball. When Romario was finally included in the starting line-up, he promptly scored five goals. He struck a penalty kick that proved to be the game-winner for Brazil in their World Cup shootout triumph over Italy.

Ronaldo (1998, Brazil)

Brazil reached the World Cup final for the second time in three years, mainly to Ronaldo. It seemed inevitable, however, that the team would lose to France. While Ronaldo’s contributions to the team’s success got them to the championship game, the team’s success was overshadowed by the star player’s illness in the days leading up to the big game. The fact that he was still deemed the tournament’s most outstanding player despite a poor performance against France is telling.

Oliver Kahn (2002, Germany)

It was in 2002 that Oliver Kahn, a goalkeeper, won the Golden Ball. In the competition, he kept five shutouts and allowed only three goals. Unfortunately for Germany, two of those goals were scored by Brazil in the championship game.

Zinedine Zidane (2006, France)

After the 2006 World Cup final against Italy, Zidane committed an embarrassing gaffe that will live in infamy forever. He had previously appeared in the tournament in 1998, when France won it, and in 2006 when they repeated the feat. He finished with three goals and is only the fourth player to do so in World Cup history. Still, he was sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the 110th minute of the final against Italy. Italy won the championship despite his absence from the penalty shootout.

Diego Forlan (2010, Uruguay)

Forlan is undoubtedly one of the best footballers ever to represent Uruguay. His goal in the quarterfinals against Ghana forced extra time, ultimately winning the game for his team on penalties. The semi-final loss was to the Netherlands, and the failure in the bronze medal match against Germany came despite a goal by the Uruguayan squad. Within the competition, he scored five times.

Lionel Messi (2014, Argentina)

Messi is a legend on the soccer field, having won many awards over his career. In 2014, he won the Golden Ball and added it to his collection of honours. He won it thanks to his four goals and one assist. After an injury-riddled season with Barcelona, it was a brave showing. He guided Argentina to the World Cup championship game, where they ultimately lost to Germany.

Luka Modric (2018, Croatia)

Modric was instrumental in Croatia’s success in Group D, including formidable opponents like Argentina, Iceland, and Nigeria. He was crucial in the team’s quarterfinal and semi-final victories over Russia and England. Even though Croatia lost the championship game to France, Modric was still honoured with the Golden Ball award. He played for 691 total minutes in the tournament and contributed two goals and one assist.

Several world’s finest footballers will compete in this year’s World Cup. Including such luminaries as Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, Kevin de Bruyne, Neymar, Vincius Jr., Leroy Sane, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi on the list indicates that this year’s race for a most outstanding player at the finest event will be fierce.

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