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The 10 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball winners
SEN • April 28th, 2026 9:10 am
The FIFA World Cup Golden Ball was first introduced at the 1982 tournament in Spain to recognise the Player of the Tournament.
Leading into the 2026 World Cup, there have been 11 tournaments played with a Golden Ball winner. There is one dual winner in Argentina's Lionel Messi.
See the 10 Player of the Tournament winners in FIFA World Cup history.
The 10 Golden Ball winners
1982 (Spain) - Paolo Rossi (Italy)
Inaugural winner who scored six goals and also picked up the Golden Boot as Italy won its third World Cup title.
1986 (Mexico) - Diego Maradona (Argentina)
The great Maradona captained Argentina to World Cup glory in Mexico and took out Player of the Tournament honours as well as scoring five goals.
1990 (Italy) - Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)
Won both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot on home soil as Italy finished third.
1994 (USA) - Romário (Brazil)
Romário was named the best player at the 1994 tournament in the USA as Brazil won its fourth title. Also scored five goals.
1998 (France) - Ronaldo (Brazil)
One of Brazil's greatest ever players took a giant stride to immortalisation by being named Player of the Tournament and scoring four goals at France '98 as a 21-year-old. Unfortunately the Brazilians went under to the hosts in the Final.
2002 (South Korea/Japan) - Oliver Kahn (Germany)
The legendary German remains the only goalkeeper to win the Golden Ball which he achieved in 2002. Also took out the Lev Yashin Award (later named Golden Glove) as best keeper.
2006 (Germany) - Zinedine Zidane (France)
The French were unable to take out the 2006 edition but not for the efforts of captain Zinedine Zidane who pulled the strings in midfield. He landed the prize despite being sent off for a head-butt on Marco Materazzi in the Final against Italy.
2010 (South Africa) - Diego Forlán (Uruguay)
The Uruguayan narrowly edged out Dutchman Wesley Sneijder to claim the Golden Ball in South Africa. Forlán also scored five goals and provided an assist.
2014 (Brazil) - Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Messi won the first of his two Golden Balls in Brazil despite Argentina failing in the Final against Germany. The little master was exceptional with four goals while claiming four Man of the Match awards.
2018 (Russia) - Luka Modrić (Croatia)
Croatia went on a remarkable run and almost pulled it off only to fall to France in the Final. A lot of that had to do with the performances of Modrić who was sublime for his nation.
2022 (Qatar) - Lionel Messi (Argentina)
The superstar made it a pair of Golden Balls as he led Argentina to a third World Cup title in Qatar. He is the only player to win the award twice.
The FIFA World Cup 26™ in the USA, Mexico and Canada kicks off on Friday, June 12. You can hear EVERY GAME LIVE across the SEN network.
