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At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game.
- There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA Technical Study Group:[1][2]
- the Golden Ball (currently commercially termed "adidas Golden Ball") for best player, first awarded in 1982.
- the Golden Boot (currently commercially termed "adidas Golden Boot", formerly known as the "adidas Golden Shoe" from 1982 to 2006) for top goalscorer, first awarded in 1982;
- the Golden Glove (currently commercially termed "adidas Golden Glove", formerly known as the "Lev Yashin Award" from 1994 to 2006) for best goalkeeper, first awarded in 1994;
- the FIFA Young Player Award (formerly known as the "Best Young Player Award" from 2006 to 2010) for best player under 21 years of age at the start of the calendar year, first awarded in 2006;
- the FIFA Fair Play Trophy for the team that advanced to the second round with the best record of fair play, first awarded in 1970.
- There is currently one award voted on by fans during the tournament:
- There are currently two awards voted on by fans after the conclusion of the tournament:
- the Goal of the Tournament, (currently commercially termed "Hyundai Goal of the Tournament") for the fans' best goal scored during the tournament, first awarded in 2006;
- the Most Entertaining Team for the team that has entertained the public the most, during the World Cup final tournament, as determined by a poll of the general public.
- One other award was given between 1994 and 2006:[3]
- an All-Star Team comprising the best players of the tournament chosen by the FIFA Technical Study Group. From 2010 onwards, all Dream Teams or Statistical Teams are unofficial, as reported by FIFA itself.
The Golden Ball award is presented to the best player at each FIFA World Cup finals, with a shortlist drawn up by the FIFA technical committee (Technical Study Group) and the winner voted for by representatives of the media.[4] Those who finish as runners-up in the vote receive the Silver Ball and Bronze Ball awards as the second and third most outstanding players in the tournament respectively. The current award was introduced in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, sponsored by Adidas and France Football.[5] Oliver Kahn is to date the only goalkeeper to have won the award, which he did in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi became the first player to win a second Golden Ball.[6]
Official winners
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
 Italy | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
 Brazil | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
 West Germany/Germany | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
 France | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
 Croatia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
 Uruguay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Belgium | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Denmark | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 South Korea | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Unofficial winner
The following players are recognised as best players by the FIFA website. FIFA recognizes the Golden Ball award prior to 1982 only in 1978; it does not recognize Golden Ball awards from 1930 to 1974.
| World Cup | Winner | Runner-up | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 Argentina | Mario Kempes[8] |
Paolo Rossi[9] |
 Dirceu[9] |
Media selections
Authoritative football historian and statistician Ejikeme Ikwunze, popularly called "Mr. Football", published a list of the best players in his book World Cup (1930-2010): A Statistical Summary,[10] and it gained the most attention among experts' selections about the best players until 1978. This work is part of the official FIFA library,[11] and received public recognition from his former presidents Joao Havelange and Sepp Blatter.[citation needed] A considerable number of other media agreed with him.[12][13][14][15]
| World Cup | First place | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 Uruguay | José Nasazzi[16] |
Guillermo Stábile |
José Leandro Andrade |
| 1934 Italy | Giuseppe Meazza |
 Matthias Sindelar |
 Oldrich Nejedly |
| 1938 France | Leônidas[17] |
Silvio Piola |
 György Sárosi |
| 1950 Brazil | Zizinho[18] |
Juan Alberto Schiaffino |
Ademir |
| 1954 Switzerland |  Ferenc Puskás |
Sándor Kocsis |
Fritz Walter |
| 1958 Sweden | Didi[19][20] |
Pelé |
Just Fontaine |
| 1962 Chile | Garrincha[21] |
Josef Masopust |
 Leonel Sánchez |
| 1966 England |  Bobby Charlton |
Bobby Moore |
 Eusébio |
| 1970 México |  Pelé[22] |
Gérson |
Gerd Müller |
| 1974 West Germany | Johan Cruyff |
Franz Beckenbauer |
 Kazimierz Deyna |
| 1978 Argentina[23] | Mario Kempes |
Paolo Rossi |
Did not select |
On 2 August 1950, Dr. Friedebert Becker, the editor-in-chief of Kicker (then Sport-Magazin), chose his best players of the tournament.[24]
France Football, the sponsor of Golden Ball and Ballon d'Or, selected the best player of the 1966 FIFA World Cup at that time with L'Équipe, and Bobby Charlton became the winner.[25]
After the 1978 World Cup, Argentinian magazine El Gráfico held a survey for the best player of the tournament. This was different from the unofficial Golden Ball which is recognised by FIFA.[26]
Guerin Sportivo chose their top ten players for the 1990 tournament in Italy.[27]
In 1998, the Argentinian newspaper Clarín provided a brief description of each star player dating back to 1930. Some are controversial decisions as is the case with retrospective awards. The 1998 winner was awarded after the tournament ended.[28]
The Golden Boot or Golden Shoe award goes to the top goalscorer of the FIFA World Cup. While every World Cup had a ranking of the goalscorers, the first time an award was given was in 1982,[7] under the name Golden Shoe.[5] It was rechristened Golden Boot in 2010.[73] FIFA sometimes lists the top goalscorers of previous Cups among the Golden Boot winners.[74]
If there is more than one player with the same number of goals, since 1994 the tie-breaker goes to the player with more assists. If there is still more than one player, the tie (since 2006) is decided by minutes played in the tournament, with the player playing fewest minutes ranked first. A Silver Boot and a Bronze Boot are also awarded for the second and third-highest goalscorers respectively.
| Top Goalscorer[75][76] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Cup | Top goalscorer | Goals | Runners-up | Goals | Third place | Goals |
| 1930 Uruguay | Guillermo Stábile |
8 | Pedro Cea |
5 |  Bert Patenaude |
4 |
| 1934 Italy | Oldřich Nejedlý |
5[a] |  Edmund Conen Angelo Schiavio |
4 | None | — |
| 1938 France | Leônidas |
7[b] | György Sárosi Gyula Zsengellér Silvio Piola |
5 | None | — |
| 1950 Brazil | Ademir |
9[c] | Óscar Míguez |
5 | Alcides Ghiggia Chico Estanislau Basora Telmo Zarra |
4 |
| 1954 Switzerland | Sándor Kocsis |
11 |  Josef Hügi Max Morlock Erich Probst |
6 | None | — |
| 1958 Sweden | Just Fontaine |
13 | Pelé Helmut Rahn |
6 | None | — |
| 1962 Chile |  Flórián Albert Valentin Ivanov Garrincha Vavá Dražan Jerković Leonel Sánchez |
4 | None | — |
None | — |
| 1966 England | Eusébio |
9 | Helmut Haller |
6 | Franz Beckenbauer Ferenc Bene Geoff Hurst Valeriy Porkujan |
4 |
| 1970 Mexico | Gerd Müller |
10 | Jairzinho |
7 |  Teófilo Cubillas |
5 |
| 1974 West Germany | Grzegorz Lato |
7 | Johan Neeskens Andrzej Szarmach |
5 | None | — |
| 1978 Argentina[80] | Mario Kempes |
6 | Teófilo Cubillas |
5 | Rob Rensenbrink |
5 |
| Golden Shoe[74] | ||||||
| World Cup | Golden Shoe | Goals | Silver Shoe | Goals | Bronze Shoe | Goals |
| 1982 Spain | Paolo Rossi |
6 | Karl-Heinz Rummenigge |
5 | Zico |
4 |
| 1986 Mexico | Gary Lineker |
6 | Emilio Butragueño Careca Diego Maradona |
5 | None[81] | |
| 1990 Italy | Salvatore Schillaci |
6 | Tomáš Skuhravý |
5 | Gary Lineker Roger Milla |
4 |
| 1994 United States |  Oleg Salenko[d] Hristo Stoichkov[e] |
6 | None | — |
 Kennet Andersson Romário |
5[f] |
| 1998 France[84] | Davor Šuker |
6 | Gabriel Batistuta Christian Vieri |
5 | None[g] | |
| 2002 South Korea/Japan[85] | Ronaldo |
8[h] | Miroslav Klose Rivaldo |
5 | ||
| 2006 Germany[87] | Miroslav Klose |
5 | Hernán Crespo |
3[i] | Ronaldo |
3[i] |
| Golden Boot[74] | ||||||
| World Cup | Golden Boot | Goals | Silver Boot | Goals | Bronze Boot | Goals |
| 2010 South Africa | Thomas Müller |
5[j] | David Villa |
5[j] | Wesley Sneijder |
5[j] |
| 2014 Brazil |  James Rodríguez |
6 | Thomas Müller |
5 | Neymar |
4[k] |
| 2018 Russia | Harry Kane |
6 |  Antoine Griezmann |
4[l] | Romelu Lukaku |
4[l] |
| 2022 Qatar | Kylian Mbappé |
8 | Lionel Messi |
7 | Olivier Giroud |
4[m] |
| Notes | ||||||
| ||||||
The Golden Glove award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. The award was introduced with the name "Lev Yashin Award" in 1994, in honor of the late Soviet goalkeeper.[7] It was rechristened "Golden Glove" in 2010. The FIFA Technical Study Group recognises the top goalkeeper of the tournament based on the player's performance throughout the final competition. Although goalkeepers have this specific award for their position, they are still eligible for the Golden Ball as well, as when Oliver Kahn was awarded in 2002.[93]
| Lev Yashin Award | ||
|---|---|---|
| World Cup | Lev Yashin Award | Clean sheets |
| 1994 United States | Michel Preud'homme |
2 |
| 1998 France | Fabien Barthez |
5 |
| 2002 South Korea/Japan | Oliver Kahn |
5 |
| 2006 Germany |  Gianluigi Buffon |
5 |
| Golden Glove | ||
| World Cup | Golden Glove | Clean sheets |
| 2010 South Africa | Iker Casillas |
5 |
| 2014 Brazil | Manuel Neuer |
4 |
| 2018 Russia | Thibaut Courtois |
3 |
| 2022 Qatar | Emiliano Martínez |
3 |
The FIFA Young Player Award ("Best Young Player Award" 2006–2010) was awarded for the first time at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and given to Germany's Lukas Podolski.[94] The award is given to the best player in the tournament who is at most 21 years old. For the 2022 World Cup, this meant that the player had to have been born on or after 1 January 2001.
In 2006,[95] the election took place on FIFA's official World Cup website with the help of The FIFA Technical Study Group.[96]
FIFA organised a survey on the Internet for users to choose the "Best Young Player" of the World Cup, between 1958 and 2002, named the best young player of each tournament.[97] With 61% of the overall vote, the winner was Pelé, who finished ahead of the Peruvian Teófilo Cubillas, the best young player at Mexico 1970, and England's Michael Owen, who reached similar heights at France 98.[98][99]
The winner of the award has only been part of the winning country three times. Pelé in 1958, Kylian Mbappé in 2018, and Enzo Fernández in 2022.
| World Cup | FIFA Young Player | Age | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 Sweden | Pelé |
17 | Centre-Forward |
| 1962 Chile | Flórián Albert |
20 | Centre-Forward |
| 1966 England | Franz Beckenbauer |
20 | Sweeper-Defender |
| 1970 Mexico | Teófilo Cubillas |
21 | Attacking-Midfielder |
| 1974 West Germany | Władysław Żmuda |
20 | Centre-Back |
| 1978 Argentina | Antonio Cabrini |
20 | Left-Back |
| 1982 Spain | Manuel Amoros |
21 | Right-Back |
| 1986 Mexico | Enzo Scifo |
20 | Attacking-Midfielder |
| 1990 Italy | Robert Prosinečki |
21 | Centre-Midfielder |
| 1994 United States | Marc Overmars |
20 | Left-Winger |
| 1998 France | Michael Owen |
18 | Centre-Forward |
| 2002 South Korea/Japan |  Landon Donovan |
20 | Second-Striker |
| 2006 Germany | Lukas Podolski[94] |
21 | Second-Striker |
| 2010 South Africa | Thomas Müller[100] |
20 | Second-Striker |
| 2014 Brazil | Paul Pogba[101] |
21 | Centre-Midfielder |
| 2018 Russia | Kylian Mbappé[102] |
19 | Left-Winger |
| 2022 Qatar | Enzo Fernández |
21 | Centre-Midfielder |
The FIFA Fair Play Trophy is given to the team with the best record of fair play during the World Cup final tournament since 1970. Only teams that qualified for the second round are considered. The winners of this award earn the FIFA Fair Play Trophy, a diploma, a fair play medal for each player and official, and $50,000 worth of football equipment to be used for youth development.[103]
The appearance of the award was originally a certificate. From 1982 to 1990, it was a golden trophy based on Sport Billy, a football-playing cartoon character from 1982 who became an icon for FIFA Fair play.[104][105] Ever since 1994, it is simply a trophy with an elegant footballer figure.[106] Peru was the first nation to win the award after receiving no yellow or red cards in the 1970 FIFA World Cup held in Mexico.[107]
The Player of the Match (POTM) award picks the outstanding player in every match of the tournament. The award was introduced with the name "Man of the Match" in 2002. It was rechristened "Player of the Match" in 2022.
While the inaugural two editions were chosen by the technical group,[108][109] since 2010, Player of the Match is picked by an online poll on FIFA's website.[110][111][112]
| World Cup | Player(s) with most POTM wins | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 South Korea/Japan | Rivaldo |
3 |
| 2006 Germany | Andrea Pirlo |
3 |
| 2010 South Africa | Wesley Sneijder |
4 |
| 2014 Brazil | Lionel Messi |
4 |
| 2018 Russia | Antoine Griezmann Eden Hazard Harry Kane Luka Modrić |
3 |
| 2022 Qatar | Lionel Messi |
5 |
Total awards
As of 18 December 2022
| Rank | Player | Wins | World Cup(s) with awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | 11 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 7 | 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 |
| 3 | Arjen Robben | 6 | 2006, 2010, 2014 |
| 4 | Kylian Mbappé | 5 | 2018, 2022 |
| Luka Modrić | 2018, 2022 | ||
| Luis Suárez | 2010, 2014, 2018 | ||
| 7 | Antoine Griezmann | 4 | 2018, 2022 |
| Eden Hazard | 2014, 2018 | ||
 Keisuke Honda | 2010, 2014 | ||
| Harry Kane | 2018, 2022 | ||
| Miroslav Klose | 2002, 2006 | ||
| Thomas Müller | 2010, 2014 | ||
| Neymar | 2014, 2018, 2022 | ||
| Park Ji-sung | 2002, 2006, 2010 | ||
| James Rodríguez | 2014, 2018 | ||
| Wesley Sneijder | 2010 |
By country
As of 18 December 2022
The Most Entertaining Team award is a subjectively awarded prize for the team that had done the most to entertain the public with a positive approach to the game, organised through public participation in a poll[7] starting in 1994.[73]
| World Cup | Most Entertaining Team Award |
|---|---|
| 1994 United States | Brazil[87] |
| 1998 France | France[87] |
| 2002 South Korea/Japan |  South Korea[113] |
| 2006 Germany | Portugal[114] |
Official winners
The All-Star Team is a team of the best performers at the respective World Cup finals. Since 1994, FIFA decided to add official best squads, chosen by its Technical Study Group under the brand name MasterCard All-Star Team.[115] For 1998, 2002 and 2006, substitute and reserve members were also nominated for full squads.
Unofficial winners
FIFA published the first All-Star Team in 1938, but it never made All-Star Team again until 1990 due to ensuing complaints.[119] In January 1959, the host of 1958 tournament Swedish Federation published an All-Star Team based on 720 answers out of 1,200 experts.[120][121] In 1990 there was an All-Star Team announced in combination with the Golden Ball ceremony. It was chosen by the same journalists who chose the best player, but this team is still considered unofficial.[122][123]
| World Cup | Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards | Reserves |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 France |
|
Did not select | |||
| 1958 Sweden | Did not select | ||||
| 1990 Italy |
|
|
After FIFA changed its sponsor from MasterCard to Visa in 2007,[124] it published Team of the Tournament based on statistical data of other sponsors, which evaluates players' performances. FIFA explained these are not official.[125]
| World Cup | Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 South Africa[126] |
|
Castrol performance index | |||
| 2014 Brazil[127] | Castrol performance index | ||||
| 2018 Russia[125] | Fantasy football |
Since 2010, the Fan Dream Team has been voted by online poll of FIFA website, but FIFA explained this is also not official team.[125]
| World Cup | Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 South Africa[128] | |||||
| 2014 Brazil[129] | |||||
| 2018 Russia[130] | Did not select |
Media's selections
Many different newspapers, sports journalists, managers and former players have picked their All-Star teams for the tournaments over the years. Newspapers which picked their All-Star teams include Sport-Magazin, Mundo Esportivo, France Football, Associated Press, Estadio, El Gráfico, Goles, Guerin Sportivo, Crónica, El Mercurio, La Prensa, Clarín, La Razón, El País, L'Équipe, Mundo Deportivo, De Volkskrant, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Don Balón, La Stampa, Kicker, Deporte Gráfico, Spotivo Sur, Match, Fußball Woche, Placar, Shoot!, BBC Sport, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Diario AS and Marca.
Sports journalists, managers and former players who picked their All-Star teams include Dr. Friedebert Becker, Gabriel Hanot, Enzo Bearzot, Pelé, Roberto Bettega, Eugenio Bersellini, Giovanni Trapattoni, Massimo Giacomini, Sandro Mazzola, Paolo Carosi, Jimmy Greaves, Pichi Alonso and Johan Cruyff.
Since the beginning many newspapers gave players points to players based on their performances at the World Cup. Some are based in statistics, but some were just rankings given by experts.[131] Castrol Football has given retrospective rankings to players until 1966 with their expert panel consisting of people such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Arsène Wenger, Marcel Desailly, Cafu, Alan Shearer, Emilio Butragueño, Ronald Koeman, Pierluigi Collina, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Gary Bailey, Peter Stöger, Mohamed Al-Deayea and Stanislav Levý.[132]
There are rumours about "official" World Cup All-Star teams across the internet. The same teams have been published on many websites including football.sporting99.com, worldcupbrazil.net, talksport[133] and thesoccerworldcups.com. It is unclear where these teams originated, but the earliest they can be found on the internet was in the October of 2011 on the football.sporting99.com website.[134]
The Goal of the Tournament award was awarded for the first time at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
- Scores and results list the goal tally of the players' team first.
Official winners
| World Cup | Player | Scored against | Score | Minute | Result | Round | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 Germany | Maxi Rodríguez |
 Mexico |
2–1 | 98' (a.e.t.) |
2–1 (a.e.t.) |
Round of 16 | [232] |
| 2010 South Africa | Diego Forlán |
Germany |
2–1 | 51' | 2–3 | Third place match | |
| 2014 Brazil | James Rodríguez |
Uruguay |
1–0 | 28' | 2–0 | Round of 16 | |
| 2018 Russia | Benjamin Pavard |
Argentina |
2–2 | 57' | 4–3 | Round of 16 | |
| 2022 Qatar | Richarlison |
 Serbia |
2–0 | 73' | 2–0 | Group stage | [233] |
Unofficial winners
In 2020 and 2021, FIFA's official YouTube channel made videos of the top ten goals of the following three tournaments.
| World Cup | Player | Scored against | Score | Minute | Result | Round | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 Mexico | Carlos Alberto |
Italy |
4–1 | 86' | 4–1 | Final | [234] |
| 1986 Mexico | Diego Maradona |
England |
2–0 | 55' | 2–1 | Quarter-finals | [235] |
| 1990 Italy | Roberto Baggio |
Czechoslovakia |
2–0 | 78' | 2–0 | Group stage | [236] |
Nominees
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