The 2026 FIFA World Cup is fast approaching and the excitement around the world is already building. The curtain raiser will take place on June 10, as Mexico welcome South Africa to what will no doubt be a dour Estadio Azteca in Mexico City for a repeat of the 2010 opener. From there, a larger number of 48 teams will battle it out in 104 games until just two remain, battling it out at MetLife Stadium for the crown.
Three months into the show, the bookies have a clear favorite in mind. the last World Cup odds pencil in current European champions Spain as 9/2 favourites, with England, France and Argentina at the top. Each of them has a talisman capable of winning games on their own, be it Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe or Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi.
The mercurial Argentina captain was named player of the tournament in Qatar after a string of strong displays, culminating in two goals in the final against Les Bleus. But who joins the Albiceleste captain on the list of recent Ballon d’Or winners? Let’s take a look.
2022: Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi was already considered by many to be the best footballer who had ever lived, even without winning a World Cup. The few doubters who remained thought he could never be considered better than his beloved compatriot Diego Maradona and the great Brazilian Pelé, unless he claimed the game’s top honour. It looked like 2022 would represent the little wizard’s best and last chance to climb that mountain, but things couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.
With many predicting that Argentina would leave Qatar as champions, the Albiceleste performed surprisingly well defeated in his first match of lowly Saudi Arabia, surrendering a one-goal lead in the process to somehow lose 2-1. That defeat only spurred Messi on.
With his team looking down, Messi scored a spectacular goal against Mexico to give his side a crucial victory before turning creator in the 2-0 triumph against Poland. In the round of 16, the Argentinian skipper was once again the star, scoring against Australia to help his team through to the quarter-finals. There, he would score against the Netherlands, before scoring from the penalty spot in the penalty shootout resulting in a 1-1 draw.
In the semi-finals against Croatia, Messi was at his best. He scored the first goal from the penalty spot, before embarking on a mazy run in the second half to assist Julián Álvarez and punch his side’s ticket to the final. In the showpiece in Lusail, he scored twice against France, as well as netting another in the resulting penalty shoot-out to help his nation claim the trophy at last and cement his legacy as the greatest player who ever lived.
Messi’s seven goals and three assists were enough to secure the Player of the Tournament award, and rightly so. But what mattered most was the World Cup winners medal he also stated, at last.
2018: Luka Modric
Croatia were an afterthought heading into the 2018 World Cup. However, their golden generation should have received more respect. At the heart of this generation was metronomic midfielder Luka Modric. The Real Madrid ace had just won his third consecutive Champions League title with Los Blancos before leaving for Russia, and was determined to take that impeccable form to the biggest stage.
Modric started all seven games in the tournament as he surprisingly led Croatia to a final for the first time. He scored an impressive goal in the 3-0 victory in Argentina in the group stage, before becoming a crucial cog in midfield, anchoring thrilling wins against Denmark, hosts Russia and England to secure a place over France in the final. Unfortunately for Modric, his side fell short against Les Bleus, with a teenage Kylian Mbappe on song in a 4-2 French victory.
But the Croatian superstar would finish the tournament with the runner-up medal and Ballon d’Or award, as well as winning the Ballon d’Or – awarded to the best player on the planet – at the end of the year.
2014: Lionel Messi
Messi’s crowning in 2022 may have been the first time he won the World Cup, but it wasn’t the first time he was named player of the tournament. The Argentinian skipper was also in brilliant form in 2014, especially in the group stage. He scored spectacular goals against Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria (twice) to help the Albiceleste top Group F, before his teammates took charge throughout the knockout round.
Àngel Di Maria scored a last-gasp winner in the second round against Switzerland, before Gonzalo Higuaín became the quarter-final hero against Belgium. The semi-final against the Netherlands would end goalless, but Argentina progressed on penalties thanks to the exploits of goalkeeper Sergio Romero. But in the final, Messi would suffer his final heartbreak. Tied 0-0 in extra time, Argentina would eventually succumb to a well-worked Germany side, with Mario Gotze fanning the dying embers of extra time in Rio de Janeiro. But even in defeat, Messi would at least secure the consolation prize and was named player of the tournament.
