Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time to lift the World Cup trophy in the final. The Golden Ball for this World Cup was ultimately awarded to Rodri, the 30-year-old defensive midfielder of Spain.

Throughout the entire tournament, Spain conceded only one goal. Rodri started all eight of Spain’s matches, serving as the undisputed midfield anchor and one of the biggest heroes behind Spain’s title triumph.

All-Time Top Three Finishers for the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball

1982: Paolo Rossi, Falcão, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

1986: Diego Maradona, Harald Schumacher, Preben Elkjaer

1990: Salvatore Schillaci, Lothar Matthäus, Diego Maradona

1994: Romário, Roberto Baggio, Hristo Stoichkov

1998: Ronaldo, Davor Suker, Lilian Thuram

2002: Oliver Kahn, Ronaldo, Hong Myung-bo

2006: Zinedine Zidane, Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Pirlo

2010: Diego Forlán, Wesley Sneijder, David Villa

2014: Lionel Messi, Thomas Müller, Arjen Robben

2018: Luka Modrić, Eden Hazard, Antoine Griezmann

2022: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Luka Modric