The Golden Ball is the FIFA World Cup's award for the tournament's outstanding individual player, selected by a panel of media representatives from a FIFA technical committee shortlist. With World Cup winner odds reflecting how often the tournament's best player and the winning nation go hand in hand, the award has been presented since 1982 and has been won by some of the greatest footballers the sport has produced. Here is every winner.
Paolo Rossi: 1982
The only player to win the Golden Ball, the Golden Boot, and the World Cup in the same tournament. Rossi scored six goals in Spain as Italy lifted their third world title, including a hat-trick against Brazil and the opener in the final against West Germany. He also won the Ballon d'Or that year. His achievement has never been replicated.
Diego Maradona: 1986
Widely regarded as the most dominant individual performance in World Cup history. Maradona contributed five goals and five assists across the tournament in Mexico, including the Hand of God and the Goal of the Century against England in the quarter-finals, before setting up the winner in the final against West Germany. Argentina's triumph was built entirely around him.
Salvatore Schillaci: 1990
The first winner not to lift the trophy. Schillaci came from nowhere to become the tournament's defining figure in Italy, finishing as top scorer with six goals and driving the hosts to the semi-finals before they were eliminated by Argentina on penalties. His performances across the tournament were extraordinary for a player who had been a relative unknown before the competition began.
Romario: 1994
Romario was Brazil's match-winner throughout their fourth World Cup triumph in the United States, scoring five goals, including the only goal of the semi-final against Sweden. His partnership with Bebeto was the defining attacking combination of the tournament, and the Golden Ball recognised a player who had been the decisive individual across Brazil's entire campaign.
Ronaldo: 1998
Ronaldo's award in France is remembered as much for what surrounded it as for the football that earned it. He finished as joint top scorer with four goals, was Brazil's most dangerous player throughout, and then played the final in deeply controversial circumstances following a mysterious illness on the morning of the match. France won 3-0, but Ronaldo's individual contribution across the tournament had been exceptional.
Oliver Kahn: 2002
The only goalkeeper ever to win the Golden Ball. Kahn kept five clean sheets for Germany as they reached the final in Japan and South Korea, conceding just three goals before the showpiece against Brazil. His performances were extraordinary throughout, and the football betting community will note that he remains the only goalkeeper in history to be judged the tournament's outstanding individual player.
Zinedine Zidane: 2006
One of the more contentious Golden Ball awards, given that Zidane was sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the final, which France lost on penalties to Italy. His contribution across six appearances included three goals and an assist, and his overall influence on France's run was undeniable. The red card could not undo what he had produced to get them there.
Diego Forlan: 2010
The first player from a fourth-placed nation to win the award. Forlan was the architect of Uruguay's remarkable run to the semi-finals in South Africa, scoring five spectacular goals, mostly long-range strikes, to finish as joint top scorer alongside Thomas Muller, David Villa, and Wesley Sneijder. His mastery of the controversial Jabulani ball, which many other players struggled to control, was a feature of one of the tournament's great individual performances.
Lionel Messi: 2014
Messi's first Golden Ball came in defeat, Argentina losing to Germany in the final at the Maracana. He scored four goals in the group stage and was the decisive player across Argentina's knockout run, even if he was quieter in the final itself. The award divided opinion at the time, some arguing Klose or Muller were more deserving, but Messi's overall tournament contribution was impossible to ignore.
Luka Modric: 2018
Modric's Golden Ball in Russia was one of the most deserved in the award's history. He drove Croatia to their first World Cup final with a combination of vision, stamina, and technical brilliance that made him the tournament's standout individual across seven matches. His performances that summer also earned him the Ballon d'Or, ending an 11-year stranglehold on the award by Messi and Ronaldo. It was a remarkable year for a player who had spent much of his career in their shadow.
Lionel Messi: 2022
The only player in history to win the Golden Ball twice. Messi's 2022 tournament in Qatar was the coronation of a career, seven goals and three assists across seven matches as Argentina won the World Cup for the third time. His performance in the final alone, scoring twice, including a stunning volley before the match went to penalties, was among the finest individual displays the occasion has ever produced.
Published by Patrick Jane
15.06.2026