2022 World Cup Golden Ball Betting | Odds & Predictions

History of the WC Golden Ball Award

The Golden Ball was first introduced at the 1982 World Cup in Spain and Paolo Rossi was the winner. In 1986, the legendary Diego Maradona won the award after he guided Argentina to the WC trophy, whereas in 1990, Salvatore Schillaci won the Best Player WC award representing hosts Italy.

Two star players from Brazil, Romario and Ronaldo won the Golden Ball WC award in the finals of 1994 and 1998, while goalkeeper Oliver Kahn from Germany took the award home in 2002. Former Real Madrid player and coach and leader of the French national team, Zinedine Zidane, won the Golden Ball in 2006, followed by Diego Forlan (2010), Lionel Messi (2014), and Luka Modric (2018).

Golden Ball Award vs France Football Ballon d'Or

The Golden Ball and France Football Ballon d'Or awards are given to the best football players. However, there's one big difference between them. The Golden Ball WC award is given to the best footballer in each of the World Cups, where players represent their nations. As we already mentioned, for this award, the technical committee shortlist the best footballers and the media vote and name the winner.

In contrast, France Football's award is intended for the player who performed the best during the season and is given for international and club achievements. For instance, the French football magazine gave the award to C. Ronaldo in 2017 because he was the best player for the Los Blancos, scored a lot of important goals, and his team were the champions of Europe.

Our Prediction for the World Cup 2022 Best Player

Kylian Mbappe is the favourite to win the WC Best Player award and also leads the pack when it comes to how bookies see the situation. However, he is not our pick to be the winner of the much-coveted award because we feel he is still not the leader of his national team. We would much rather go with C. Ronaldo. The Portuguese star collected the EURO 2020 Top Goal Scorer award and notched five goals. Ronaldo's game is second to none, and since this could be his last big international tournament, we think he will go all in and will top betting WC Best Player charts.

Could Messi Win It?

If you agree with many bookies and see La Albiceleste as one of the favourites, Lionel Messi might just end up being selected as the most valuable player in Qatar. He was able to do it in Copa America, and even though the stakes are even bigger now, he has shown his doubters that he can deliver on the international level as well. On top of his ability to score, Messi is nowadays a well-seasoned playmaker as well, and that increases his possibility to win this respected individual award if Argentina goes far in the WC 2022.