FIFA World Cup Awards

At the conclusion of each FIFA World Cup event, players are awarded with several awards for their outstanding efforts, distinguished from the rest in the event by the FIFA.

Golden Ball, Silver Ball, Bronze Ball

FIFA hands over several awards to the players for their outstanding contribution in the World Cup finals, with a shortlist drawn up by the FIFA technical committee and the winner voted for by representatives of the media. Golden ball is presented to the best player of the tournament based on his contribution for his team, his goals, his assists and matches played. The player who finishes runners-up is presented with a silver ball and the player standing third position after runners-up wins Bronze ball.



A short-list of ten exceptional players is put together by a FIFA technical committee. The names of the players are nominated to the list. This list is then presented to media representatives.

In the 2006 World Cup French star player Zinedine Zidane was awarded with the top honour, awarded golden ball for his outstanding contribution in the tournament.

Italian captain Fabio Canavarro was awared with the silver ball while his team-mate Andrea Pirlo was awared with the Bronze ball for their outstanding contribution for the Azzurris and helping Italy lift the World Cup 2006.

This year Lionel Messi for Argentina has been outstanding, though he has not scored a goal for Argentina. Klose has delivered the goods for Germany as well and looks a strong contender to make it in the top 10 list.

Golden Boot, Silver Boot, Bronze Boot

Every tournament golden boot is awarded to the player who scores the highest number of goals. Golden Boot was first awarded in 1930 for top goal scorer Germany's Miroslav Klose was the winner in the year 2006 when he managed to net 5 goals totally.



Hernan Crespo for Argentina was handed with the Silver boot and Ronaldo for Brazil was awarded with the Bronze boot for finishing second and third respectively.

This year David Villa who scored the winner against Portugal to take his tally to 4 goals jointly leads the race to get the Golden boot alongside Gonzalo Higuain of Argentina who has 4 goals as well.

Yashin Award

The Yashin Award is named in honor of the late goalkeeper Lev Yashin (USSR).
The FIFA Technical Study Group recognizes the top goalkeeper of the tournament based on the player"s performance throughout the final competition.

Gianluigi Buffon of Italy was awarded with the prestigious Yashin Award in the year 2006 for his outstanding display between the posts.

Best Young Player Award

Lukas Podolski for Germany won the award in the 2006 edition. The award is given to the best player in the tournament who is at most 21 years old.


FIFA Fair Play Trophy

Fair play award is handed over to the team which has the best record of fair play throughout the competition. Only teams that qualified for the second round are considered.

The team is handed with FIFA Fair Play Trophy, a diploma, a fair play medal for each player and official, and $50,000 worth of football equipment to be used for youth development.

In the year 2006, Brazil and Spain were jointly handed with the trophy.

This year again Spain has come out clean until this stage and looks a strong contender to clinch the award with just one yellow card shown to Xavi Alonso during their clash against Portugal.

Most Entertaining Team

The award is always organized through public participation in a poll. It is awarded to the team which is able to entertain the crowd with their positive approach. The award is basically subjective and is decided through polls through internet.

Portugal was awarded with the Most Entertaining Team in the 2006 World Cup.

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