Though England, Belgium, and Croatia didn’t win the World Cup, members of those teams took home post-tournament awards. If bettors took England’s Harry Kane, Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois, and Croatia’s Luka Modric, they were handsomely rewarded, as all were longshots to win the honors they did.
Kane won the Golden Boot for the most goals scored. Courtois was awarded the Golden Glove for the best goalkeeper, and Modric was presented the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament.
Courtois was shocked that he wonp, and went to Twitter to display his gratitude.
“One of the biggest individual honors you can get as a goalkeeper! So proud of this!” Courtois posted after he was named.
Upset Special
The Premier League goalie led his team all the way to the semifinals before losing to France. The 26-year-old netminder had four of his contemporaries ahead of him when the odds were released in June before play began.
Allison Becker of Brazil was the favorite at 4/1, followed by David DeGea of Spain at 9/2. Manuel Neur of Germany, who won in 2014, was next at 5/1, then Hugo Lloris of France at 13/2.
Courtois was a distant fifth at 8/1, but throughout the tournament impressed the voting committee. In Group play, he allowed two goals in three games. In the Round of 16, he allowed four goals in four games. The match that cinched the award for him was ironically the team’s 1-0 loss to France in the semifinals. He faced 19 shots and stopped all but one.
Kane Shoo-In for Golden Boot
The Englishman had a sizable lead going into the quarterfinals, with six goals. The next closest was Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo with four.
They both were favored ahead of Kane, who at one point was as low as 16/1. The scoring leader in the Premier League that previous two seasons, struck early to build up his lead. He had two goals in the team’s opening game in Group G play, then had a hat trick against Panama to get to five. He added another in the Round of 16 victory against Colombia.
Kane is the second player from England to win the Golden Boot, and first since Gary Lineker in 1986.
Modric Leads Improbable Croatia
When the odds were announced for countries to win the World Cup, Croatia was way down the betting board at 30/1, and weren’t even mentioned to get to the finals.
Then the team with a population of just over four million began a run that surprised everyone. They dominated Group D, shutting out Nigeria and Argentina, and beating Iceland, 2-1. They won the first two games of the Round of 16 on penalty kicks, then defeated favored England, 2-1 to reach the finals.
Modric was a 12/1 pick to win the award, below such stars as Ronaldo, Kane, and Neymar. He was the main star of the team, however, and earned accolades from his coach, Zlatko Dalic.
“He played a terrific tournament which is another commendation for the team which helped to bring about Luka’s success,” Dalic said. “He did the lion share of our play and he was a deserved winner of the Golden Ball.”