Golden Awards: The Best of the Best of FIFA 2018

Golden Awards: The Best of the Best of FIFA 2018

France are the new World Cup champions, but they are not the only ones honoured at the Luzhniki Stadium after Sunday’s final.

This year’s World Cup featured plenty of spectacular individual performances over the past four weeks, and FIFA made sure to acknowledge those players who stood out the most in their awards ceremony following the big finale.

SBOBET takes a look at all the FIFA 2018 winners, and runners-up, of the individual awards handed out at the end of the greatest show on earth.

Golden Ball Award: Luka Modric, Croatia

Silver Ball: Eden Hazard, Belgium |Bronze Ball: Antoine Griezmann, France

Nobody would have ever thought that Croatia would make it deep in the knockout rounds, more so the finals. But they defied the FIFA 2018 odds, and that’s thanks in large part to skipper Luka Modric who served as the heart and soul of the team.

Indeed, no other player deserved the tournament’s best player award than the 32-year-old Real Madrid playmaker who kept the Vatreni rolling with his incredible ability to expose and exploit the weaknesses of opposing defences.

He scored in their opening two games in the group stage and provided an assist in their match with Russia that ended in a shootout. He set up his team’s tempo in every game and was unarguably the most consistent player in the competition.

“He played a terrific tournament which is another commendation for the team which helped to bring about Luka’s success. He did the lion share of our play and he was a deserved winner of the Golden Ball,” Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic said of Modric.

Eden Hazard—whose three-goal, two-assist haul pales in comparison to his tireless work up front for Belgium—took home the Silver Ball after leading the Red Devils to a third-place finish, the nation’s best showing in a World Cup.

Meanwhile, Antoine Griezmann won the Bronze Ball award, though he could argue he deserves better after his display in the final.

Golden Boot: Harry Kane, England

Silver Boot: Antoine Griezmann, France | Bronze Boot: Romelu Lukaku, Belgium

Harry Kane wasn’t the best striker in the World Cup, but he bagged the competition’s top-scorer prize after finishing with six goals. For what it’s worth, three of his goals came from the penalty area—a fact that makes the feat a little less impressive.

Not to mention that Kane scored his first five goals in England’s first two matches (versus Tunisia and Panama) and failed to produce when it mattered most, particularly in the knockout games against Sweden and Croatia.

If there’s one thing Kane proved, though, it’s that he remains one of the best finishers in football. After all, it is not easy to score from the penalty area in a pressure-packed and high-stakes event like the World Cup. Remember, even the great Lionel Messi failed to convert from the spot against Iceland.

Kane joined Gary Lineker as the Three Lions’ only Golden Boot winners, with the 24-year-old equalling Lineker’s six-goal record in the 1986 edition of the FIFA men’s tournament.

Griezmann and Romelu Lukaku, perhaps the most entertaining striker in the contest, finished the race at second and third respectively.

Golden Glove Award: Thibaut Courtois

Courtois faced stiff competition from England’s Jordan Pickford, Croatia’s Danijel Subasic and France Hugo Lloris for the best goalkeeper award, but in the end, his consistent performance between the sticks for Belgium was difficult to ignore.

He kept only three clean sheets—two against England—but made 27 saves throughout which is the most by any keeper in the World Cup. He was pivotal for Belgium who only lost once in seven games despite considering defence of secondary importance.

The 26-year-old Chelsea man (for now) had his best performance against Brazil in which he made a total of nine amazing saves, including a clutch denial on Neymar that remains one of the top FIFA 2018 highlights.

FIFA Young Player Award: Kylian Mbappe

There’s no doubt about this one, really.

There’s no other youngster in the World Cup that comes close to the memorable performance that the 19-year-old Mbappe put up in Russia.

Save for his annoying time-wasting tactics against Belgium in the semi-finals, the French forward undoubtedly impressed with his burst of speed and electric pace that made him nearly unstoppable.

He is the youngest player since Pele (1958) to ever score a brace in a World Cup knockout match, a feat he achieved against Argentina in the Round of 16. Mbappe was also a constant threat to opposing defences, and he made sure he’ll be remembered for a long time with his 65th-minute goal for France that effectively sealed the World Cup title.

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