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.
Awards
There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA Technical Study Group: 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: the Player of the Match (currently commercially termed "Budweiser Player of the Match", formerly known as the "Man of the Match" from 2002 to 2018) for outstanding performance during each match of the tournament, first awarded in 2002. 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: 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.
Golden Ball
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. 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. Oliver Kahn is to date the only goalkeeper to have won the award, which he did in the FIFA World Cup 2002. At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi became the first player to win a second Golden Ball.
Official winners
Unofficial winner
The following players were recognised as best players by FIFA website. Also, FIFA only recognizes the 1978 Golden Ball award prior to 1982. FIFA does not recognize Golden Ball awards from 1930 to 1974.
Media's 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, and it gained the most attention among experts' selections about the best players until 1978. This work is part of the official FIFA library, and received public recognition from his former presidents Joao Havelange and Joseph Blatter. A considerable number of other media agreed with him.
{ | class="wikitable" |+''World Cup (1930-2010): A Statistical Summarys Best Player |- !World Cup !scope=col style="background-color: gold" | First place !scope=col style="background-color: silver" | Second place !scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | Third place |- |align=left|1930 Uruguay | José Nasazzi | Guillermo Stábile | José Leandro Andrade |- |align=left|1934 Italy | Giuseppe Meazza | Matthias Sindelar | Oldrich Nejedly |- |align=left|1938 France | Leônidas | Silvio Piola | György Sárosi |- |align=left|1950 Brazil | Zizinho | Juan Alberto Schiaffino |align="center"|did not select |- |align=left|1954 Switzerland | Ferenc Puskas | Sandor Kocsis | Fritz Walter |- |align=left|1958 Sweden | Didi | Pelé | Just Fontaine |- |align=left|1962 Chile | Garrincha | Josef Masopust | Leonel Sánchez |- |align=left|1966 England | Bobby Charlton | Bobby Moore | Eusebio |- |align=left|1970 México | Pelé | Gérson | Gerd Müller |- |align=left|1974 West Germany | Johan Cruyff | Franz Beckenbauer | Kazimierz Deyna |- |align=left|1978 Argentina | Mario Kempes | Paolo Rossi |align="center"|did not select |}
On 2 August 1950, Dr. , the editor-in-chief of Kicker (then Sport-Magazin), chose his best players of the tournament.