{"id":15028,"date":"2026-07-20T07:26:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T00:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=15028"},"modified":"2026-07-20T07:27:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T00:27:02","slug":"rodri-the-mvp-as-mbappe-takes-golden-boot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/rodri-the-mvp-as-mbappe-takes-golden-boot\/","title":{"rendered":"Rodri the MVP as Mbappe takes Golden Boot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Spain captain Rodri won the Golden Ball award for the best player at the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Sunday after leading his team to a 1-0 victory against Argentina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 won the Golden Boot after Lionel Messi failed to add to his tally in the final against Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodri didn’t have a goal in the tournament, but his passing and controlling the possession are central to the way Spain plays. He became just the 11th man to win the World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and Ballon d’Or.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argentinian talisman Messi, who was almost reduced to a bystander in the final, had to settle for the Silver Ball, with Mbapp\u00e9 taking the Bronze Ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mbapp\u00e9 scored 10 goals to top the Golden Boot charts ahead of Argentina great Messi, who finished with eight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England midfielder Jude Bellingham and Norway striker Erling Haaland each scored seven times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real Madrid forward Mbapp\u00e9 , 27, also won the prize at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, where France were beaten finalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Frenchman, who made his World Cup debut in 2018, scored twice in Saturday’s third-place playoff, which England won 6-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mbappe is now the top scorer in FIFA World Cup history, with 22 goals across three tournaments, one ahead of Messi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain claimed a hat trick of individual awards with Unai Sim\u00f3n won the Golden Glove for the top performance by a goalkeeper and Pau Cubars\u00ed won the Best Young Player Award, beating out fellow 19-year-old teammate Lamine Yamal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The individual winners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Golden Ball<\/th>Silver Ball<\/th>Bronze Ball<\/th><\/tr>
<\/a> Rodri<\/td><\/a> Lionel Messi<\/td><\/a> Kylian Mbapp\u00e9<\/td><\/tr>
Golden Boot<\/th>Silver Boot<\/th>Bronze Boot<\/th><\/tr>
<\/a> Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 10 goals, 4 assists, 769 minutes played<\/td><\/a> Lionel Messi 8 goals, 4 assists, 853 minutes played<\/td><\/a> Jude Bellingham 7 goals, 1 assist, 698 minutes played<\/td><\/tr>
Golden Glove<\/th><\/tr>
<\/a> Unai Sim\u00f3n<\/td><\/tr>
FIFA Young Player Award<\/th><\/tr>
<\/a> Pau Cubars\u00ed<\/td><\/tr>
FIFA Fair Play Trophy<\/th><\/tr>
\"\"\u00a0Netherlands<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spain captain Rodri won the Golden Ball award for the best player at the FIFA World Cup 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[430],"tags":[103,276,63],"class_list":["post-15028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-awards","tag-fifa","tag-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t