Who Will Win The 2018 World Cup Individual Awards?

By Josh Pitt

Twitter: @Josh_Rocket

32 teams entered the World Cup, and now we only four remain: France, Belgium, England and Croatia. There can only be one champion, but at the end of the tournament, three individual awards will be given. The Golden Gloves for the best goalkeeper, the Golden Boot for the top goalscorer and the Golden Ball for the best player. Lets have a look at the favorites for each.

Golden Gloves 

(The most recent winner, Manuel Neuer in 2014)

The Golden Gloves award (or Lashin award until 2010) has been given out at every World Cup since 1994. Since then, the award went to the goalkeeper on the winning team four out of six times, meaning there is no guarantee the winner will receive it. The current three favorites for the award all produced impressive performances in their quarterfinal matches, meaning this award is truly up for the grabs in the final two matches.

Hugo Lloris - The 2018 favorite is French and Tottenham number one Hugo Lloris. Just before halftime in their quarterfinal match with Uruguay, he produced one of the best saves the World Cup has ever seen, diving to his right to deny Martín Cáceres from equalizing. He has played consistently well throughout the tournament, although he did concede three goals against Argentina in the last 16. 

Thibaut Courtois - Lloris' main rival for this award is his opponent in Tuesday's semifinal. Courtois' save in the 94th minute from Neymar's shot not only kept Belgium in the lead, but also may have been better than Lloris' earlier that day. He has conceded five goals, compared to France's four, but whoever comes out victorious on Tuesday will take a huge step toward earning this award. 

Jordan Pickford - Pickford put in a man-of-the-match performance against Sweden, which put him in contention. The Everton keeper also was England's hero in their last 16 match as they won their first ever World Cup penalty shootout. Pickford has garnered some criticism in the tournament, particularly from England legend Gary Neville, and Sunday was his first shut out in five games. If he can carry on his good form from the last two games and help England get to its first final since 1966, there is no reason he can't take this award home. 

Honorable mentions - Croatian goalkeeper Danijel Subašić has played well, but there are doubts over his health for the semifinal, and thus is unlikely to win the award if he is unable to play. It is likely the award will go to one of the men above, but there were other wonderful goalkeeping performances in this World Cup. The two best keepers in the world, David de Gea and Manuel Neuer had tournaments to forget, but keepers like Guillermo Ochoa of Mexico, Igor Akinfeev of Russia, Lee Seung-woo of South Korea and Kasper Schmeichel of Denmark all played extremely well. They may get other rewards though, with big clubs on the lookout for signings in the transfer window. 

Golden Boot 

(James Rodriguez with his Golden boot)

The race for the Golden Boot is not as close at it has been at other World Cups, but it is not over yet. Since the 1986 World Cup, only Ronaldo in 2002 has won both the Golden Boot and the competition itself. 

Harry Kane (6 goals) - The England captain has scored six times in four games, including three from the penalty spot. He is now the clear favorite with two games to go. He has already equaled the record for goals at a World Cup from an Englishman, tying with Gary Lineker in 1986. With Kane set to lead the line for England on Wednesday against Croatia, he will be hoping to add to his goal total and push England to a first World Cup final since 1966. 

Romelu Lukaku (4 Goals) - Lukaku has been in fantastic form at the World Cup and his performance against Brazil earned him high praise. He scored twice in both of Belgium's opening games against Tunisia and Panama, but has failed to find the back of the net since. It is going to take a big effort from the Manchester United striker for him to get ahead of Harry Kane. 

*The only other players with four goals are Cristiano Ronaldo and Denis Cheryshev, but as both Portugal and Russia are now out, they wont be adding to their tally. 

Antoine Griezmann & Kylian Mbappé (3 Goals) - Two of France's key men have tallied three goals and their partnership may well fire France to its first World Cup title since 1998. It will take something special from either of them to win the Golden boot. 

Golden Ball 

(A distraught Lionel Messi after winning the Golden ball in 2014, but losing in the final)

Potentially the most prestigious individual award in Soccer, the World Cup Golden Ball has been won by some of the greatest players to ever grace the pitch: Ferenc Puskás, Garrincha, Charlton, Pelé, Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Romário, Ronaldo, Oliver Kahn, Zinedine Zidane and most recently Lionel Messi. This award is truly a measure of greatness and next week someone new will enter this illustrious club. Of the 20 previous Golden Ball winners, only 10 of them have actually won the competition. This award is truly up for grabs, and what these players do in the semi's and the final will have a huge influence on the eventual winner. This is when it really counts, and when the true legends of the game need to step up. With so many world class players still in the tournament, it is almost impossible to predict who will win it, but lets have a look at one player from each country remaining who has, in my opinion, the best chance of winning. 

Kylian Mbappé - Mbappé became the first teenager since Pelé in 1958 to score twice in a World Cup knockout game, and he has now truly announced himself on the world stage. The second most expensive player of all time has had a great tournament, and is my favorite for the Golden Ball. If he can help guide France through the final two matches, I think he will become the youngest ever recipient of the Golden Ball.

Harry Kane- With Kane set to win the Golden Boot, you may think he was favorite for the Golden ball as well. Only four players in history have won both, and it hasn't happened since Salvatore Schillaci did it at Italia 90. Kane has been a huge part of everything positive about England so far, and he has brought his form from the EPL to the World Cup. If football really does go home, Kane will be the likely winner. 

Eden Hazard - The Chelsea man has been his regular self at the World Cup and was the best player on the pitch as Belgium beat Brazil 2-1. He has two goals and an assist so far, and always looks dangerous when Belgium attacks. He has proven repeatedly for Chelsea that he is a big-game player, scoring the winning goal in this year's FA Cup Final, and he will be key for Belgium as their Golden Generation seeks to win the country's first World Cup. 

Luka Modrić - The Croatian captain has been a key man for his country since making his debut in 2006 and has gone onto make 111 appearances for his country. Fresh from winning the champions league once again with Real Madrid, the world-class midfielder has been in great form, and has lead Croatia to only its second semifinal. He will need to be at his absolute best to guide Croatia's Golden Generation to its first final.