The "Golden Shoe" award was established in 1982 to recognize the greatest goal scorers in the FIFA World Cup. The original prize was a gold shoe; since then, several other awards have been added. The original award went to Pele and it has been given out annually since then.
Now in its 23rd year, the award is still given out annually, this time to the best male and female goal scorers of the previous season. The nominees are determined by an official vote of members of the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
The award is presented at the FIFA Awards ceremony which takes place during the week of the summer Olympics in Tokyo every year. The last edition was held on August 7, 2009. This year's winners were Cristiano Ronaldo and Lady Gaga.
Cristiano Ronaldo received the award for a third time. He is now the most awarded player in the history of the award with three wins. The Portuguese footballer scored a record breaking number of goals during the 2008-09 season - 49 goals - thus becoming only the second player after Guðjón Þórðarson to score 100 or more goals in a single season. He is also the first player to win the award three times.
While there was a rating of goal scorers at every World Cup, the first time an award was handed was in 1982, under the moniker "Golden Shoe." In 2010, it was renamed the Golden Boot. FIFA occasionally includes the best scorers from prior tournaments among the Golden Boot winners. For example, Paolo Rossi and Marco van Basten shared the title in 1990 after each scored eight goals.
There have been several attempts to create some sort of official scoring system for international soccer matches. The first time this was done was in 1930, when the International Federation of Association Football (now known as FIFA) created a ranking of national teams. This list has been published annually since then, except during World War II. The top two countries on the list qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals.
Some people may question why something so simple as a number-one ranking for national teams is not used more often. The fact is that it's difficult to come up with an objective way to judge players' performances other than by looking at how many goals they score. There are debates about what weight to give goals versus assists, but this is part of what makes soccer such a fascinating game to watch.
In addition to the World Cup, there is also an annual men's Olympic tournament. Beginning in 1960, the top scorer at the Olympics earned the right to wear the Golden Boot trophy.
See FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Boot for the women's award. The Golden Boot or Golden Shoe Award is given to the FIFA World Cup's outstanding goal scorer. While there was a rating of goal scorers at every World Cup, the first time an award was handed was in 1982, under the moniker "Golden Shoe."
Since 1994, the Golden Gloves award has been granted to the tournament's best goalie. The Best Young Player award is open to players aged 21 and under. Visit the World Cup History page for a list of past World Cup winners, hosts, and statistics.
The Golden Ball award, first handed in 1982, is given to the finest player in the FIFA World Cup event. The Golden Boot is presented to the highest goal scorer or goal scorers. Since 1994, the Golden Gloves award has been granted to the tournament's best goalie. The awards are manufactured by J. Mendel & Company.
In 1956, when Sweden was hosting the World Cup, they had no official team so the national federation sent an invitation to play for Sweden to the most famous player in the country, Nils Liedholm. He accepted and played all three matches as Sweden lost every one. After this defeat, the Swedish Federation decided not to send any more players to World Cups until Sweden could field a full team again.
There have been criticisms that both awards go to the same player but this is not true. They are two different awards for two different categories. One rewards goal scorers while the other recognizes the best goalkeeper. And even though they are given out at the end of the same tournament, they cover different periods of time (the winner of the Golden Ball is selected after the conclusion of the whole competition while the Golden Boot winner is chosen over the course of the entire tournament).
Some other candidates for the Golden Ball award who have been mentioned include Pele, Maradona, and Zico. The choice of recipient is made by vote of journalists from around the world.
The Golden Ball (now commercially known as the "adidas Golden Ball") for best player, first given in 1982; the Golden Boot (now commercially known as the "adidas Golden Shoe" from 1982 to 2006) for top goal scorer, first presented in 1982; and the Golden Arm (now commercially known as the "Volkswagen Golden Arm Award") for best goalkeeper, first given in 1983. The awards are administered by FIFA (the governing body of football worldwide) and are based on voting by members of the media, players, and fans.
The original Golden Ball award was created by Adidas for the first FIFA World Cup held in Germany in 1954. It was originally called the Dazu Goldball after the German word for gold, which is "Dazu". The original ball was made of metal with leather panels that had been painted gold. This ball was used until 1972 when it was replaced by one made of plastic. For the 1974 World Cup the golden ball was again used but this time it was made of rubber and lasted until 1990 when it was finally replaced by a new version of the plastic ball. In 2002 FIFA decided to have another look at the awards presented at world cups and subsequently brought back the old versions of some awards (including the Golden Boot) for use in future tournaments.
In fact there were two different versions of the Golden Boot awarded at different times. The original version was designed by Adidas and introduced in 1982.
The current Golden Ball award was initially presented to Italy's Paolo Rossi at the 1982 World Cup, which was sponsored by Adidas. Players who finish second and third in the voting for the award get the Silver Ball and Bronze Ball as the tournament's second and third best players, respectively.
Italy won the trophy with three votes to claim their first World Cup title. Forward Michel Morgane was voted best player on the field by coaches and journalists participating in the tournament. He scored two goals and provided one assist in all matches he appeared in during the tournament. Forward Roberto Baggio was selected second by both coaches and media members, while forward Francesco Graziani was chosen third.
At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico City, Spain's Diego Maradona became the first player to win the Golden Ball twice when he also won it in 1990. He is still only player to have achieved this feat. Argentina's Lionel Messi has been widely regarded as the greatest player in the world since his arrival on the global stage in 2007, and has been nominated for the Golden Ball award every year since then. However, he has never won it despite being the top candidate each time.
Besides Argentina and Brazil, other South American countries such as Uruguay, Chile, and Colombia have a strong presence in the tournament.
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