Most controversial World Cup Golden Ball's since 1966

Round by round it's not as good as Romario 94/Rossi 82, nor Eusebio 66/Pele 70 to the 6th round.

Compared to Ronaldo 98, Ronaldo 02 scored more, but mostly because his team created more chance's for him, Ronaldo 02 scored slightly worse ratio 8 from 27 great chance's than Ronaldo 98 (4/12), and they are almost as important, 53% vs 50%. Ronaldo 98 dribbled more, but created less chance's. Ronaldo 98 it's almost identical performance to the final, the final performance setting them apart, and I think it equals Charlton's 66 performance overall.

I've to tell you I can understand the reason why Khan was voted for Golden Ball even without watching his performance, if he was amazing. It was done before final, and Ronaldo didn't impress me, and even in the final Ronaldo missed 2 1on1's against Khan, so it's pretty even performance in the final also.

World Cup performance index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as golden, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Maradona 86
Messi 14
3.
Kempes 78
4.
Jairzinho 70
5.
Cruyff 74
6.
Forlan 10
7.
Romario 94
8.
Eusebio 66
Pele 70
Rossi 82
11.
Schillaci 90
12.
Ronaldo 02
Charlton 66
14.
Ronaldo 98
15.
Zidane 06

Robben WC14



3 goals from 8 great scoring chances
20 great scoring chances created
34 players beaten by dribble (OPTA)
2 tackles (OPTA)

Goals (Scored + Assisted + Involved)
10 (3 + 3 + 4) out of 15 team goals = 67% importance (+ 2 SO Goals)

Goals Scored
Spain 1
Spain 2
Australia 1

Great Scoring Chances Missed
Spain 1
Australia 1
Chile 1
Chile 2
Mexico 1
Costa Rica 1
Argentina 1

Great Chances Greated
Spain 1
Spain 2
Spain 3
Australia 1
Australia 2
Australia 2
Chile 1
Chile 2
Chile 3
Chile 4
Mexico 1
Mexico 2
Mexico 3
Mexico 4
Mexico 5
Costa Rica 1
Costa Rica 2
Brazil 1
Brazil 2
Brazil 3

Robben 14 is a great performance, it's almost identical performance of Cruyff 74, 3 goals from the same number of great chance's, the same number of dribbles, the same importance, Robben created slightly more great chance's (less OPTA chances) but defended less, round by round Robben has slight edge, but he did play 3rd compared to the final.

This gives additional perspective why Messi 14 performance was so good, he scored more from less chance's, dribbled more, defended more, was more important and was better in the h2h game. Robben created few great chance's more (less OPTA chances), but his games were more open, and round by round Messi was relatively better in 5 rounds. Robben played relatively only better in the final round, but it was more open game with less in stake.

World Cup performance index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as golden, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Maradona 86
Messi 14
3.
Kempes 78
4.
Jairzinho 70
5.
Robben 14
Cruyff 74
7.
Forlan 10
8.
Romario 94
9.
Eusebio 66
Pele 70
Rossi 82
12.
Schillaci 90
13.
Ronaldo 02
Charlton 66
15.
Ronaldo 98
16.
Zidane 06

Suker WC98



6 goals from 20 great scoring chances
8 great scoring chances created
15 players beaten by dribble (OPTA)
6 tackles (OPTA)

Goals (Scored + Assisted + Involved)
7 (6 (1p) + 0 + 1) out of 11 team goals = 64% importance

Goals Scored

Jamaica 1
Japan 1
Romania 1
Germany 1
France 1
Netherlands 1

Great Scoring Chances Missed

Jamaica 1
Jamaica 2
Jamaica 3
Jamaica 4
Japan 1
Japan 2
Japan 3
Japan 4
Argentina 1
Romania 1
Romania 2
Germany 1
Germany 2
France 1
Netherlands 1

Great Chances Created

Jamaica 1
Jamaica 2
Jamaica 3
Japan 1
Romania 1
Germany 1
Netherlands 1
Netherlands 2

Statistically Suker 98 and Ronaldo 98 are close, scored the same ratio from great chance's, advanced the game with dribbling the same, and defended as much. Suker however created more, was more important and round by round played better 5 games than Ronaldo. So it definitely is a better performance.

Suker 98 is round by round a perfect match with Schillaci 90, and although Schillaci scored the same from less great chances and was slightly more important, Suker again created more. I think Suker 98 and Schillaci 90 is an equal performance.

World Cup performance index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as golden, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Maradona 86
Messi 14
3.
Kempes 78
4.
Jairzinho 70
5.
Robben 14
Cruyff 74
7.
Forlan 10
8.
Romario 94
9.
Eusebio 66
Pele 70
Rossi 82
12.
Schillaci 90
Suker 98
14.
Ronaldo 02
Charlton 66
16.
Ronaldo 98
17.
Zidane 06

G.Müller WC70



10 goals from 25 great scoring chances
7 great scoring chances created
4 players beaten by dribble (OPTA)
0 tackles (OPTA)

Goals (Scored + Assisted + Involved)
13 (10 (1p) + 3 + 0) out of 17 team goals = 76% importance

Goals Scored
Morocco 1
Bulgaria 1
Bulgaria 2
Bulgaria 3
Peru 1
Peru 2
Peru 3
England 1
Italy 1
Italy 2

Great Scoring Chances Missed
Morocco 1
Morocco 2
Morocco 2
Bulgaria 1
Bulgaria 2
Peru 1
Peru 2
Peru 3
England 1
Italy 1
Italy 2
Italy 3
Italy 4
Italy 5
Uruguay 1

Great Chances Greated
Morocco 1
Bulgaria 1
Bulgaria 2
England 1
Italy 1
Italy 2
Uruguay 1

G.Müller WC70 performance may come surprise for some. Usually associated on great and ruthless finishing scoring 10 goals and watching highlight reels you would think that? At least for me it came as a surprise that he wasn't actually that effective, at least in WC70. It's same kind of performance than Eusebio WC66, 10 goals from 25 great chances, minus the advancing play and defending, and less creativity which why it isn't as good.

I rank it as high as Schillaci WC90. Scored in relation the same the chance's they got, slight differences in advancing play, creativity, defending and importance both ways. Round by round almost a tie.

World Cup performance index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as golden, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Maradona 86
Messi 14
3.
Kempes 78
4.
Jairzinho 70
5.
Robben 14
Cruyff 74
7.
Forlan 10
8.
Romario 94
9.
Eusebio 66
Pele 70
Rossi 82
12.
G.Müller 70
Schillaci 90
Suker 98
15.
Ronaldo 02
Charlton 66
17.
Ronaldo 98
18.
Zidane 06

Lol all of his goals there are from 10-15 yards

Great finisher though

Counted average distance of 6.6 yards, for his goals when first touching the ball.

Luca Modric WC18, going to analyze it next.

messi deserves it, he set the record for distance dribbled or most dribbled or most players dribbled or something like that, right?

They give it to the losing team member, so messi deserved it

He had world cup 2014 performance similar to modric 2018

Messi thoroughly deserved it back in 2014

The most recent undeserved golden ball I can think of is Messi's in 2014.

At least now they gave it to Modric, a player who was sensational throughout the tournament.

Round 1 Modric vs. Nigeria





Was part of teams both goals like Messi, the first one of being identical cross for own goal. But it isn't as good as Messi's second goal had more quality and he didn't create 3 additional great chance's like Messi. Otherwise his game was pretty quiet consisting few crosses onwards. It's as important as Messi, Romario and Maradona in this round, but lacks in quality why I rate it lower than those.

World Cup Performance Index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as gold, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Messi 14 vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
2.
Romario 94 vs Russia
3.
Maradona 86 vs South Korea
4.
Modric 18 vs Nigeria
5.
Robben 14 vs Spain
Ronaldo 02 vs Turkey
Schillaci 90 vs Austria
Jairzinho 70 vs Czechoslovakia
G.Müller 70 vs Morocco
10.
Suker 98 vs Jamaica
Kempes 78 vs Hungary
Cruyff 74 vs Uruguay
Pele 70 vs Czechoslovakia
Eusebio 66 vs Hungary
15.
Zidane 06 vs Switzerland
Bebeto 94 vs Russia
Rossi 82 vs Poland
Charlton 66 vs Uruguay
19.
Forlan 10 vs France
20.
Ronaldo 98 vs Scotland

It's pretty long ago when I did this comparison, so I may not remember everything. If I miss something I may have to revisit the rating afterwards.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:At least now they gave it to Modric, a player who was sensational throughout the tournament.

He wasn't better than Messi at all on an individual level. Stop being so biased

This Croatia was a better and more hard working team than 2014 Argentina though.

Round 2 Modric vs. Argentina





Scored almost identical goal as Messi vs Iran, and was involved slightly in the last goal. But it isn't as important, because Croatia scored a goal without him. I think it's pretty identical performance with Ronaldo 98, who was also involved 2 of 3 goals, scored 1on1 and showed great quality creating a goal.

World Cup Performance Index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as gold, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Messi 14 vs Iran
Forlan 10 vs South Africa
Charlton 66 vs Mexico
4.
Jairzinho 70 vs England
5.
Ronaldo 98 vs Morocco
Modric 18 vs Argentina
Kempes 78 vs France
7.
G.Müller vs Bulgaria
8.
Bebeto vs Cameroon
Romario 94 vs Cameroon
10.
Maradona 86 vs Italy
11.
Robben 14 vs Australia
Ronaldo 02 vs China
Cruyff 74 vs Sweden
14.
Pele 70 vs England
15.
Suker 98 vs Japan
16.
Zidane 06 vs South Korea
Eusebio 66 vs Bulgaria
17.
Rossi 82 vs Peru
19.
Schillaci 90 vs USA

Round 3 Modric vs. Iceland

Quiet game, didn't create any great chances, nor had any chances to score and Croatia scored two goals without him. It's not as bad as being suspended in a crucial game like Zidane, but it's the closest one.

World Cup Performance Index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as gold, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Messi 14 vs Nigeria
2.
Robben 14 vs Chile
Cruyff 74 vs Bulgaria
Pele 70 vs Romania
Jairzinho 70 vs Romania
6.
G.Müller 70 vs Peru
Eusebio 66 vs Brazil
8.
Romario 94 vs Sweden
Schillaci 90 vs Czechoslovakia
10.
Maradona 86 vs Bulgaria
11.
Forlan 10 vs Mexico
Rossi 82 vs Cameroon
13.
Charlton 66 vs France
14.
Ronaldo 02 vs Costa Rica
Ronaldo 98 vs Norway
Suker 98 vs Argentina
Kempes 78 vs Italy
18.
Modric 18 vs Iceland
19.
Zidane 06 (double yellow)

Round 4 Modric vs. Denmark











Created 3 great chance's, missed a penalty and scored in SO. Because Croatia managed crucial goal without his input, it isn't really Romario vs USA tier, but at the same time, he created 3 chances to 1 miss and scored in SO, which is why feel it's better than the second last tier, which has same importance, but where players mostly scored a goal from many chances.

World Cup Performance Index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as gold, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Eusebio vs North Korea
2.
Messi 14 vs Switzerland
Kempes 78 vs Poland
4.
Robben 14 vs Mexico
5.
Cruyff 74 vs Argentina
6.
Forlan 10 vs South Korea
Zidane 06 vs Spain
Maradona 86 vs Uruguay
Jairzinho 70 vs Peru
10.
Suker 98 vs Romania
Romario 94 vs USA
12.
Modric 18 vs Denmark
13.
Ronaldo 02 vs Belgium
Ronaldo 98 vs Chile
Schillaci 90 vs Uruguay
Rossi 82 vs Argentina
Pele 70 vs Peru
G.Müller 70 vs England
19.
Charlton 66 vs Argentina

Round 5 Modric vs Russia









Failed tackle on his man which allowed Russia's goal, assisted one goal of two team goals, created one additional chance which also turned into a bad miss, and also scored in the SO. It's again difficult to directly compare when unusually player was directly resposible of goal for opponent, but I think it compares to Romario vs Netherlands. Tie in importance, Romario involved 1/3 goals, Modric involved 1/2 goals + opponents goal + SO goal. In quality both created one additional great chance but slight favor for Modric for missing only one great chance instead of two.

World Cup Performance Index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as gold, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Maradona 86 vs England
Rossi 82 vs Brazil
3.
Forlan 10 vs Ghana
4.
Charlton 66 vs Portugal
5.
Zidane 06 vs Brazil
6.
Suker 98 vs Germany
7.
Messi 14 vs Belgium
Robben 14 vs Costa Rica
Ronaldo 98 vs Denmark
10.
Jairzinho 70 vs Uruguay
Eusebio 66 vs England
12.
Schillaci 90 vs Ireland
G.Müller 70 vs Italy
14.
Modric 18 vs Belgium
15.
Romario 94 vs Netherlands
Pele 70 vs Uruguay
17.
Kempes 78 vs Brazil
18.
Cruyff 74 vs East Germany
19.
Ronaldo 02 vs England

Round 6 Modric vs England





Again started the game with an abysmal tackle, which led to the England goal, and created one good chance when Croatia scored two goals without his input. It's a bad performance. I don't think it's the worst performance in this round, because Charlton also pretty much did nothing when England scored 4 goals, but it's very close.

World Cup Performance Index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as gold, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Maradona 86 vs Belgium
2.
Ronaldo 02 vs Turkey
3.
Schillaci 90 vs Argentina
Rossi 82 vs Poland
5.
Kempes 78 vs Peru
Cruyff 74 vs Brazil
7.
Suker 98 vs France
8.
Pele 70 vs Italy
Jairzinho 70 vs Italy
10.
Romario 94 vs Sweden
G.Müller 70 vs Uruguay
12.
Messi 14 vs Netherlands
Forlan 10 vs Netherlands
Ronaldo 98 vs Netherlands
15.
Robben 14 vs Argentina
Zidane 06 vs Portugal
17.
Eusebio 66 vs Soviet Union
18.
Modric 18 vs England
19.
Charlton 66 vs West Germany

Round 7 Modric vs France



Nothing much happened for Modric in this game, was part of the first goal of the two Croatia scored. I think it fits right below Forlan 10, with same importance, although Forlan had more eventful game missing and creating couple more chances.

World Cup Performance Index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as gold, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Kempes 78 vs Netherlands
2.
Robben 14 vs Brazil
Schillaci 90 vs England
Suker 98 vs Netherlands
Cruyff 74 vs West Germany
6.
Forlan 10 vs Germany
Ronaldo 02 vs Germany
8.
Modric 18 vs France
9.
Rossi 82 vs West Germany
10.
Maradona 86 vs West Germany
11.
Messi 14 vs Germany
12.
Ronaldo 98 vs France
13.
Romario 94 vs Italy
14.
Zidane 06 vs Italy

i cant understand what those stats mean but after watching their performance highlights i can say that nobody can play like Messi

If Messi had 0 ballon dor after that performance people would agree that he deserve the award. But because he put high standards and have 5 ballon dor people want him to do more. This is what happened with Modric

If Modric scored 60 goals a season, his 2 goals in World Cup would be ridiculed and called flop. no matter how many chances he creates or makes assists. he just scored 2 goals so he is a flop and cant score 60 goals in a world cup

Modric WC18



2 goals from 2 great scoring chances
9 great scoring chances created
15 players beaten by dribble (OPTA)
11 tackles (OPTA)

Goals (Scored + Assisted + Involved)
6 (2 (1p) + 1 + 3) out of 14 team goals = 43% importance (+ 2 SO Goals)

Goals Scored

Nigeria 1
Argentina 1

Great Scoring Chances Missed

Denmark 1
Russia 1

Great Chances Created

Nigeria 1
Argentina 1
Denmark 1
Denmark 2
Russia 1
Russia 2
Denmark 3
England 1
France 1

This is retarded

For a Golden Ball performance Modric WC18 isn't good, for me it's the third worst performance. It's pretty equal to Charlton 66, maybe slightly better. Both were involved the same amount of team goals 45% vs 43%, both advanced the play same by dribbling 15 players, and although Modric created more chances, Charlton tackled more and were better round by round in four games to three.

This again gives additional perspective how good Messi WC14 performance really was, and how football journalist work for creating exaggerated headlines (mostly fake) to drive traffic to their sites, and how this then usually gets instilled on football fans memory. Messi scored twice the goals, was involved almost all the team goals 88% to 43%, created twice the great chances, was round by round better in 6 games, advanced the game by dribbling three times more and even had the same amount of tackles. Croatia even conceded two goals directly because Modric failed tackle on his man. Whole deluded football world shat on Messi WC14, and didn't bat an eye for Modric's WC18 Golden Ball, and that alone shows why football today is mostly fake on media level.

World Cup performance index, considering statistics, the best (and worst) plays, importance and relation of quality of opposition and own team. Color highlighted as golden, silver, bronze ball, or not in Top 3.

1.
Maradona 86
Messi 14
3.
Kempes 78
4.
Jairzinho 70
5.
Robben 14
Cruyff 74
7.
Forlan 10
8.
Romario 94
9.
Eusebio 66
Pele 70
Rossi 82
12.
G.Müller 70
Schillaci 90
Suker 98
15.
Ronaldo 02
Charlton 66
Modric 18
18.
Ronaldo 98
19.
Zidane 06