The prestigious golden ball is awarded to the best performing player at the FIFA world cup finals. The winner of this prestigious trophy is chosen by voting through the media representatives from a list that has been prepared by the FIFA technical committee. However, the golden ball award was introduced in the 1982 FIFA world cup.
Presently, 10 players have won this prestigious Golden Ball award and no player has won twice this trophy in their career. Apart from Golden Ball, there are also Silver Ball and Bronze Ball awards available and players win that according to their performance.
Here is the complete list of the Golden Ball winners in the FIFA world cup.
- Paolo Rossi(Italy) 1982 FIFA World Cup
Paolo Rossi is the single European player who won the Golden Ball and Golden Boot subsequently. In the 1982 FIFA world cup, he won the prestigious Golden Ball trophy for his outstanding performance. He is still the top scorer of Italy at the world cup along with Roberto Baggio.
- Diego Maradona (Argentina) – 1986 FIFA World Cup
Diego Maradona is undoubtedly the most deserving player of the Golden Ball. He solely propels Argentina to win the world cup in the year 1986. His performance has made him one of the best players in FIFA world cup history.
- Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) – 1990 FIFA World Cup
Salvatore Schillaci surprised everyone with his performance in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and helped Italy to march from third place to the final. His six goals in the tournament help him to bag both Golden Ball and Golden Boot.
- Romario (Brazil) – 1994 FIFA World Cup
Romario is one of the greatest strikers of all time. Playing for Brazil, he showed outstanding sportsmanship and acumen that helped him to grab Golden Ball in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
- Ronaldo Nazario (Brazil) – 1998 FIFA World Cup
Ronaldo outshined each country’s 1998 FIFA world cup and due to his health issue, Brazil lost to France. His outstanding performance in that world cup brought him Golden Ball.
- Oliver Kahn (Germany) – 2002 FIFA World Cup
Due to his excellent performances during the 2002 FIFA world cup, Oliver Kahn won the Golden Ball.
- Zinedine Zidane (France) – 2006 FIFA World Cup
Zinedine Zidane won the Golden Ball of the 2006 FIFA world cup after an impressive performance in the final against Italy.
- Diego Forlan (Uruguay) – 2010 FIFA World Cup
Diego Forlan was the center of attraction of the 2010 FIFA world cup. Due to his spectacular performance, he won Golden Ball.
- Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 2014 FIFA World Cup
Lionel Messi is the shining star of football. As a result of his spectacular performance against various teams at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, he won the Golden Ball.
- Luka Modric (Croatia) – 2018 FIFA World Cup
Luka Modric displayed the best performance in the 2018 FIFA world cup and due to that; he won the prestigious Golden Ball award.