How I tracked down every World Cup Player of the Tournament
Started thinking about who really shined brightest across the last few World Cups. You know, that Golden Ball award – sometimes called Player of the Tournament or MVP. Wanted a clean list, recent ones especially. Figured “Gavu” in the title was probably a typo for MVP, happens to the best of us!
Dove straight into my browser. Didn’t need fancy sites. Opened FIFA’s official site first. Hoped they’d have a nice historical section. Searched for past tournaments, awards sections. Found info, but it felt… messy. Lists for Golden Boot (top scorer) were easy, Golden Glove (best keeper) too. But Golden Ball winners? Buried deeper.
Had to jump between tournaments. Clicked 2018 Russia section first. Scrolled down, down, past match reports. Finally! Golden Ball went to Luka Modrić. Made sense. Remembered how he bossed that midfield for Croatia. Copied that into a simple text file.
Next stop: 2014 Brazil. FIFA site layout felt older. Dug around the Brazil 2014 tournament hub. Awards page finally popped up. Golden Ball winner: Lionel Messi. Hardly a shocker, though some argued Neuer or James Rodríguez. Added Messi to the list.
South Africa 2010 was trickier. FIFA site navigation felt clunky. Persisted, clicking through. Found it! Diego Forlán won it. That brought back memories of his thunderbolt goals for Uruguay. Solid choice. Typed Forlán into my file.
Skipped back to 2006 Germany. This time, FIFA’s info was scattered. Found conflicting bits – some sites claimed Zidane even after the headbutt! Nope. Remembered clearly Zinedine Zidane did win the Golden Ball before the final madness, despite the red card. FIFA eventually confirmed: Zidane. Phew. Noted that down.
Germany 2006 felt like the cutoff point. Needed modern focus, post-2000s. But for fun, double-checked Japan/Korea 2002. Found Oliver Kahn won it. Keeper winning it? Unusual but deserved. Didn’t add him as the focus was more recent.
Then the real headache started: Cross-referencing!
- 2018: FIFA says Modrić. ESPN stats page? Modrić. BBC archive? Modrić. Good.
- 2014: FIFA says Messi. ESPN, BBC? Also Messi. Consistent.
- 2010: FIFA says Forlán. ESPN showed Messi?? Double-checked BBC – Forlán. Ah, ESPN’s page was just listing top performers, the actual award was Forlán. Fixed that mental note.
- 2006: FIFA says Zidane. BBC sport history section? Confirmed Zidane. ESPN stats? Zidane. Solid.
My final list felt clean. Proofread twice:
- 2018 (Russia): Luka Modrić (Croatia)
- 2014 (Brazil): Lionel Messi (Argentina)
- 2010 (South Africa): Diego Forlán (Uruguay)
- 2006 (Germany): Zinedine Zidane (France)
Struck a line through the project on my task list. Simple task? Sure. Feeling like I actually knew it properly now instead of just vaguely remembering? Much better. Plus, seeing names like Modrić and Messi back-to-back shows how different players shine. Messi’s control vs. Modrić’s engine. Fascinating. Makes you wonder who it might be at the next one…