FIFA World Cup Golden Ball Award Winners Full List Of All Time

FIFA World Cup Golden Ball Award Winners Full List Of All Time

Know about the all-time winners list of the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball

Every FIFA World Cup final tournament concludes with the presentation of multiple honours to the players and teams who excelled in various facets of the game.

The 1982 FIFA World Cup, which was sponsored by Adidas and France Football, saw the debut of the present trophy.

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FIFA World Cup Golden Ball Award Winners List Of All Time

The inaugural Golden Ball for best player was presented in 1982; today, there are five post-tournament awards from the FIFA Technical Study Group. The Golden Ball is now known commercially as the “adidas Golden Ball.”

At each FIFA World Cup finals, the best player receives the Golden Ball award; the winner is chosen by media representatives from a shortlist created by the FIFA technical committee (Technical Study Group). The Silver Ball and Bronze Ball prizes, which recognise the second and third most excellent players in the competition, go to the runners-up in the voting.

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World Cup Golden Ball Silver Ball Bronze Ball
1982 Spain Italy Paolo Rossi Brazil Falcão West Germany Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
1986 Mexico Argentina Diego Maradona West Germany Harald Schumacher Denmark Preben Elkjær
1990 Italy Italy Salvatore Schillaci West Germany Lothar Matthäus Argentina Diego Maradona
1994 United States Brazil Romário Italy Roberto Baggio Bulgaria Hristo Stoichkov
1998 France Brazil Ronaldo Croatia Davor Šuker France Lilian Thuram
2002 South Korea/Japan Germany Oliver Kahn Brazil Ronaldo South Korea Hong Myung-bo
2006 Germany France Zinedine Zidane Italy Fabio Cannavaro Italy Andrea Pirlo
2010 South Africa Uruguay Diego Forlán Netherlands Wesley Sneijder Spain David Villa
2014 Brazil Argentina Lionel Messi Germany Thomas Müller Netherlands Arjen Robben
2018 Russia Croatia Luka Modrić Belgium Eden Hazard France Antoine Griezmann

Meanwhile, the last winner of the Golden Ball, Croatia’s captain and star for Real Madrid, Luka Modric, will travel to Qatar in an effort to become the first player to win the Golden Ball back to back. In each of the past 10 competitions, Fifa has recognised the best player, but nobody has yet been able to effectively defend the title. Furthermore, no one has ever won the Golden Ball twice. Only Argentina, Brazil, and Italy can boast of having had two recipients of the honour.

The players eligible for each World Cup’s Golden Ball are chosen by the Fifa technical committee. The winner of the award, as well as those who receive the Silver and Bronze Balls for coming in second and third, are then decided by a vote among media representatives.

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