FIFA U20 World Cup: List of all Golden Ball winners

Rajarshi has been part of Khel Now since 2022, and he covers world football.

Published at :October 20, 2025 at 6:57 PM

Modified at :October 20, 2025 at 6:57 PM

FIFA U20 World Cup: List of all Golden Ball winners

(Courtesy : Getty)

South American youngsters have dominated the list!

The FIFA U-20 World Cup is a biennial football global cup event for men’s national squads from FIFA member countries with participants below the age restriction of 20.

Since the first edition in 1977, when Tunisia sponsored it under the event’s name FIFA World Youth Championship through 2005, the contest has traditionally been held on a biennial basis. The name was modified to its current form in 2007.

The FIFA Men’s Under-20 World Cup is marketed as “the competition of tomorrow’s superstars.” The official player of the FIFA U20 World Cup honour has previously gone to Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, and Diego Maradona.

These players have been the star of the competition and their performances were rewarded with the Golden Ball, as the prize is only given to the best player of the competition.

Erling Haaland led all scorers at the 2019 edition. Morocco are the recent winners of the competition after beating Argentina 2-0 in the final in Chile.

In the past, the event has served as a showcase for players such as Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi to demonstrate their abilities before taking the award.

List of all Golden Ball winners in U20 FIFA World Cup

1977: Vladimir Bessonov (USSR)
1979: Diego Maradona (Argentina)
1981: Romulus Gabor (Romania)
1983: Geovani (Brazil)
1985: Paulo Silas (Brazil)
1987: Robert Prosinečki (Yugoslavia)
1989: Bismarck (Brazil)
1991: Emílio Peixe (Portugal)
1993: Adriano (Brazil)
1995: Ciao (Brazil)
1997: Nicolás Olivera (Uruguay)
1999: Seydou Keita (Mali)
2001: Javier Saviola (Argentina)
2003: Ismail Matar (UAE)
2005: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2007: Sergio Agüero (Argentina)
2009: Dominic Adiyiah (Ghana)
2011: Henrique Almeida (Brazil)
2013: Paul Pogba (France)
2015: Adama Traoré (Mali)
2017: Dominic Solanke (England)
2019: Lee Kang-in (South Korea)
2023: Cesare Casadei (Italy)
2025: Othmane Maamma (Morocco)

Which player won the first-ever U20 Golden Ball?

Vladimir Bessonov from USSR won the first-ever U20 Golden Ball.

In which year Lionel Messi won the U20 Golden Ball?

He won it in 2005.

To which player the Golden Ball is awarded?

Golden Ball is awarded to the best player of the tournament.

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Rajarshi Shukla

After earning a bachelor's degree in mass media, Rajarshi began his career as a sports writer in 2019, driven by his passion for sports journalism. He has been working in the field for over six years. A devoted fan of Lionel Messi and Barcelona, Rajarshi has been involved in sports since childhood. Before turning his focus to journalism, he even represented his college at the state level. Along with covering football, he enjoys playing the game, watching movies, and experimenting with new recipes in his spare time, as cooking is one of his favorite hobbies.