Why Lionel Messi didn't win Golden Ball at World Cup, which instead was won by Rodri

Lionel Messi had a magnificent 2026 FIFA World Cup for Argentina.For that matter, so did France's Kylian Mbappe, who claimed the Golden Boot. But neither of them won the Golden Ball.The award for the tournament's best player was given to Rodri of Spain after Sunday's final.Spain won 1-0 over Argentina, and Rodri took home the prestigious honor.Many would've made the case that it should've gone to Messi, but that's not the way it worked out.MORE: Ted Lasso and Justin Bieber showed up at halftimeWhy didn't Lionel Messi win the Golden Ball?The voters clearly determined that they didn't want to give the award for the tournament's best player to someone on the losing team.There's no other case to be made that someone from Spain had a better tournament than Messi.But in the end, Messi won't go h