Brazil’s Ronaldo has been voted as the best player of the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Ronaldo came out top in the traditional poll organised by adidas, one of the official sponsors of the World Cup, among the media accredited to cover the 64-match finals. He received 21.3% of the votes cast.
He was followed by Davor Suker of Croatia (10.8%) and Lilian Thuram of France (8.8%). The three players receive the Golden, Silver and Bronze Ball trophies respectively.
The top ten players in the voting were :
Ronaldo, BRA
Davor Suker, CRO
Lilian Thuram, FRA
Marcel Desailly, FRA
Rivaldo, BRA
Zinedine Zidane, FRA
Michael Owen, ENG
Edgar Davids, HOL
Dunga, BRA
Dennis Bergkamp, HOL
Previous winners of the Golden Ball have been Romario (1994), Lothar Matthäus (1990), Diego Maradona (1986), and Paolo Rossi (1982).
The winners of the adidas Golden and Silver Shoe trophies for the top goalscorers were :
Davor Suker (Croatia), 6 goals
Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina), 5 goals + 3 assists
Christian Vieri (Italy), 5 goals + 3 assists
The awards will be presented on the occasion of the FIFA World Player of the Year gala evening in Barcelona in January 1999.