Do you know who took home the 1998 Ballon d’Or? Transfermart has provided us with data on some of the greatest football players in history, including their individual FIFA World Cup statistics. The ten players who have won the FIFA World Cup “Golden Ball” since 1982 are discussed in this article.
In 1982, FIFA instituted the World Cup “Golden Ball,” which was won by Paulo Rossi of Italy. Regardless of the cup-winning country, the honour is given to the tournament’s best player.
World Cup ‘Golden Ball’ Winners
- 1982 – Paulo Rossi
- 1986 – Diego Maradona
- 1990 – Salvatore Schillagi
- 1994 – Romario
- 1998 – Ronaldo Nazario
- 2002 – Oliver Kahn
- 2006 – Zinedine Zidane
- 2010 – Diego Forlan
- 2014 – Lionel Messi
- 2018 – Luka Modric
- 2022 – Lionel Messi
FIFA introduced the World Cup ‘Golden Ball‘ in 1982, which was won by Italy’s Paulo Rossi. The award is presented to the best player of the tournament regardless of the cup-winning nation.
Prior to Lionel Messi’s 2014 victory for his outstanding performance in the competition, Diego Maradona was the last Argentinean to receive the Golden Boy award. He did, after all, help Argentina advance to the final, where they would ultimately lose to Germany.
The “Golden Ball” has never been lifted by a Portuguese player. Even though Cristiano Ronaldo has been playing for Portugal for 18 years in a row—since his debut in 2004—he hasn’t won it yet, which is absurd.
Also Read: 5 Biggest Controversies In FIFA’s History
In 2018, Luka Modric became the first Croatian player to win the Golden Ball in the World Cup. He won the coveted Ballon d’Or that year, surpassing both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
