World Cup 2022 Odds: Examining the Golden Ball contenders
Football is, of course, a team game but one which offers a selection of coveted individual honours for players to add to their trophy cabinets.
A number of players will be heading to the 2022 World Cup, not only with dreams of overall glory, but ambitions of picking up one - or maybe even two - of those sparkling personal Golden awards: the Golden Boot, Ball, and Glove.
It’s the latter, the Golden Ball, which we are honing in on today as we look at what it is, who has won it, and who could now win it…
What is the Golden Ball award?
While the Golden Boot is given to the top goalscorer, and Golden Glove to the best goalkeeper, the Golden Ball is presented to the best player.
A FIFA technical committee puts their heads together to decide on a shortlist of players, then it’s representatives of the media who vote for the winner.
Former victors of the honour include Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi, while Croatia’s Luka Modrić triumphed four years ago following his majestic performances en route to captaining his country to their first World Cup final.
A reminder that you don't have to win the World Cup to win the Golden Ball, reflected in each of the previous four winners - Modric, Messi, Diego Forlan and Zidane - with Oliver Khan the last player to double up back in 2002.
You can discover more about the award and its full list of winners on our Golden Ball page.
The 2022 Golden Ball Contenders
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi heads into what could possibly be his final World Cup at a best-priced 10/1 (Paddy Power) to win the Golden Ball.
Winner of the accolade eight years ago in Brazil when Argentina finished runners-up, Messi arrives in Qatar on the back of an impressive start to the season with PSG, now his sights are firmly set on lifting the World Cup trophy, which he’s yet to win.
Expect, as always, Messi to play an influential role in Argentina's bid to win the tournament for the first time since the dazzling days of Diego Maradona back in 1986, with La Albiceleste cut into 13/2 second-favourites in the outright odds following an unbelievable unbeaten run which extends back to 2019.
Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe has the chance to win two World Cups at the age of just 23.
The Frenchman electrified in Russa, where he scored France’s fourth and final goal in the final, and finished joint-second in the goalscoring charts (four goals).
Not only will he be targeting another Jules Rimet Trophy, but he’ll also have his sights firmly pinned on both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards - and is priced at 10/1 to win the latter.
Neymar
Neymar's twinkling toes are the nucleus of Brazil's envious jukebox of attacking options.
He could well attract interest at a slightly bigger price of 12/1, given that Brazil are the favourites in the outright market.
He was on the Golden Ball shortlist in 2014 and is just two goals off Pele's all-time goalscoring record for A Seleção, which you'd expect him to break in Qatar.
Kevin de Bruyne
The Man City star has collected a catalogue of individual honours at club level, bagging the Premier League Player of the Season twice in the last three years.
It could well be a case of now or never for Belgium’s talented cluster of stars and should they go far in Qatar it will be thanks to the unbound quality of The Ginger Pele, who is 14s across the board to scoop the Golden Ball.
Phil Foden
You can also find the likes of Karim Benzema (16/1), Harry Kane (20/1), and Vinicius Junior (20/1) towards the top of the market, but if you’re after something with a bit more juice then Phil Foden is priced at 40/1 with bet365.
The 22-year-old is in cracking form with 10 goal involvements in the league this season. Seven of those have been his own goals including a beautifully hit cracker against Brentford last weekend.
Despite England’s progress to the Euro 2020 final, Foden didn’t quite showcase the mesmerising brilliance we’ve all become accustomed to in recent years: he played just three times then missed the final through injury.
Now 18 months on and the stage is set for a groundbreaking tournament in Qatar.
Other names to keep an eye on include Cristiano Ronaldo (33/1), Lautaro Martinez (50/1) and Pedri (66/1), while Luka Modric is 66/1 to defend his crown.
You can check out the full list of Golden Ball odds in the comparison table below
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