World Cup Player of the Tournament Betting

The Player of the Tournament award, or Golden Ball (not to be confused with Golden Boot) award to give it its official name, is awarded to the best player throughout the World Cup and is voted for by selected members of the media from a shortlist drawn up by the FIFA technical committee. It goes without saying that you have to be a more than decent player to pick up the award, but you also have to be respected around the world, not just within your own country. Wayne Rooney giving it large against the Germans won’t alone be enough to secure the accolade, but neither will head butting a fellow professional rule you out from winning it – Zinedine Zdiane still managed to secure the majority of the votes in 2006 despite his antics in the final.

Semi-finalists prosper

Making it to the semi-finals stage of the World Cup is not an official prerequisite but it does greatly increase your chances and those looking to get involved in World Cup Player of the Tournament Betting should look at the teams expected to make the last four. Since 1982 the winner of the Golden Ball has been a participant in the World Cup up until the semi-final stage at least and if you think about it makes perfect sense. Nations will not progress without the best players and the best players won’t prosper in poor teams. A top player in a top team is what you should be looking for in your Player of the Tournament Betting.

Media hype

Given that the most hyped players are glorified by the very men and women who chose the winner of this award – members of the media – it pays to look at which players are commanding the most column inches pre-tournament. Cristiano Ronaldo has inevitably been talked of the world over since his £80million move from Manchester United to Real Madrid, but Portugal had a poor qualifying campaign and could struggle to make the latter stages of the tournament. Lionel Messi won the 2009 Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards and is naturally one of the favourites to receive this award, but he is famed for not producing the same level of performance when playing for Argentina as he does for Barcelona and is another who could be worth side stepping here.

Spain and Brazil are favourites in the Outright Winner Betting and are therefore most likely to make it to the semi-final stages. Spain have many key players but the most prominent in the Player of the Tournament Betting is likely to be the midfielder Xavi who won the equivalent award at Euro 2008. Brazil can also lay claim to having many match winners amid their ranks but Kaka is likely to receive the closest attentions given his own big money move to Real Madrid in the summer. If England are to make it to the semi-finals or further then you feel a lot of responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Wayne Rooney, he is certainly the most likely to shine in the England team and could be a good bet here.