Why didn't Lionel Messi win FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Ball?

Rodri was awarded the Golden Ball.

Lionel Messi had an outstanding FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign with Argentina. Similarly, so did France’s Kylian Mbappe, who won the Golden Boot. However, neither of them won the Golden Ball.

Following Sunday’s final, Rodri of Spain received the tournament’s best player award. Spain triumphed 1-0 against Argentina. Rodri received the prized Golden Ball award.

Why didn’t Lionel Messi win the FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Ball?

Many would argue that it should have gone to Messi, but that is not how it turned out. The voters made it plain that they did not want to award the tournament’s top player to someone from the losing squad.

There’s no other way to argue that someone from Spain had a better tournament than Messi.

But, in the end, Lionel Messi did not win the Golden Boot or the Golden Ball. He worked a lot of magic in what is expected to be his final World Cup, but he only earned a silver medal.

This is a valid question, but Spain’s captain was determined to be worthy. He previously won the Ballon d’Or despite not being a prolific goal scorer for Manchester City. The same holds true here.

Rodri has a significant effect in the midfield. He appears to have been chosen over the excellent attacker Mikel Oyarzabal or a member of Spain’s record-breaking defence.

After a player from the losing side was not elected to win, Rodri’s victory is quite surprising. Given he was substituted when the score was 0-0.

But in the end, the voters saw his quality and leadership as deserving of an award. So this is what they had to offer him.

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