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The 2021 FIFA Club World Cup has already kicked off on February 3, 2022 in UAE. UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea will begin their campaign on February 9 in the semifinal against the winners of the game between Al Jazira and Al Hilal.
Like all other editions, the golden ball award will be presented to the best player of the competition. The primary shortlist will be drawn up by the FIFA Technical Committee and the winner will be subsequently voted by media representatives. The runner-up and the second runner-up are presented with the silver and bronze ball awards respectively.
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the most number of individual awards (4) including one golden ball. Whereas Lionel Messi is the only player to have won two golden balls. Four Brazilians have won the golden ball awards, including midfield legend Kaka, the most by any nation. Meanwhile, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are the two most successful clubs with four golden ball winners each.
Let us now take a look at the golden ball winners of the FIFA Club World Cup to date.
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Player | Goals | Assists | Minutes Played |
Edilson (Corinthians, 2000) | 2 | 0 | 383 |
Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo, 2005) | 1 | 0 | 180 |
Deco (Barcelona, 2006) | 1 | 1 | 180 |
Kaka (AC Milan, 2007) | 1 | 3 | 180 |
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, 2008) | 3 | 0 | 106 |
Lionel Messi (Barcelona, 2009) | 2 | 0 | 157 |
Samuel Etoo (Inter Milan, 2010) | 1 | 1 | 180 |
Lionel Messi (Barcelona, 2011) | 2 | 0 | 157 |
Cassio (Corinthians, 2012) | 0 | 0 | 2012 |
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich, 2013) | 1 | 0 | 162 |
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid, 2014) | 2 | 0 | 153 |
Luis Suarez (Barcelona, 2015) | 5 | 0 | 180 |
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, 2016) | 4 | 0 | 202 |
Luka Modric (Real Madrid, 2017) | 0 | 1 | 180 |
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid, 2018) | 3 | 0 | 150 |
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, 2019) | 0 | 1 | 210 |
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, 2020) | 2 | 1 | 163 |