Golden Ball 2026
1. FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Ball – Player of the Tournament
New York New Jersey Stadium · East Rutherford, NJ · USA
Spain just beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time in the final on July 19 in New Jersey – Ferran Torres scored the winner in the 106th minute.
The official awards were handed out right after:
Golden Ball: Rodri (Spain) – captain and orchestrator of Spain’s title-winning campaign. He was named the tournament’s best player.
Silver Ball: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Bronze Ball: Kylian Mbappé (France)
Other awards from the same night:
Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappé (France) – 10 goals in 8 games, including 2 in the third-place play-off vs England
Golden Glove: Unai Simón (Spain) and Young Player: Pau Cubarsí (Spain)
Rodri becomes the 11th player to win the World Cup, Champions League and Ballon d’Or, and prevented Messi from becoming the first player to win the World Cup Golden Ball in consecutive tournaments.
2. Ballon d’Or 2026 – Best player in the world for 2025/26
This one is NOT decided yet. The winner will be announced in September, but the World Cup will count heavily.
Current market as of the final week:
Betfair / bookies after the semis:
Messi became the new clear favourite to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or after Argentina made back-to-back finals, with reports saying he is now favourite after two assists vs England to reach the final.
Other top contenders in power rankings:
Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid, France) – led the market at 7/4 before the World Cup after 13 goals in the Champions League league phase, now Bronze Ball winner
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England) – 26 Bundesliga goals in 22 matches, 4/1, seen as Bayern’s Ballon d’Or leader with teammate Michael Olise
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain) – 9/2 and tipped as potentially youngest winner ever
Michael Olise (Bayern Munich, France) – listed as 4/1 second favourite
Erling Haaland (Man City, Norway), Vinicius Jr, and last year’s winner Ousmane Dembélé also in top 5