The Bola de Ouro (Golden Ball) is an annual award given each year, since 1973, by Brazilian sports magazine Placar to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro. A group of sports journalists watch every match of the competition and rate players 1 to 10 based on their performance. At the end of the season, the players with the best average rating in each position are awarded the Bola de Prata (Silver Ball), and the player with the best overall average rating is the recipient of the Bola de Ouro.
The awards were first given in 1973, but since the 1970 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A the magazine had started to evaluate players. The 1971 winner, Dirceu Lopes, received the award in the 2013 edition. Since the 1975 edition Placar also started to award a Bola de Prata to the top goalscorer of the competition. The players with most Bola de Ouro wins are Falcão, Toninho Cerezo, Zico, Roberto Costa and César Sampaio, each of them having won the award twice.
Both Pelé and Neymar were declared hors concours, not being allowed to participate due to being unrivaled by any other player. Pelé was declared as such in 1970, receiving then a Golden Ball in a year with no other Golden Ball awarded, although Francisco Reyes would have been that year's recipient. Neymar was awarded his first Golden Ball in 2011 but later declared unrivaled, not being able to repeat his feat. They remain the only players with such honor.
From 2016 onwards, the award was organized by ESPN.
Winners ^Denotes players who are still active *Hors concours Denotes player whose team won the Campeonato Brasileiro that yearPlayer (X)Denotes the number of times the player had been named Bola de Ouro at that timePlayer(in bold text)Indicates the player who won the Prêmio Craque do Brasileirão in the same year
SeasonPlayerPositionNationalityClub1970Pelé*Attacking midfielderSantos1971Dirceu LopesAttacking midfielderCruzeiro1973Agustín CejasGoalkeeper SantosAtilio AnchetaCentre-backGrêmio1974ZicoAttacking midfielderFlamengo1975Waldir PeresGoalkeeper São Paulo1976 Elías FigueroaCentre-backInternacional1977Toninho CerezoCentral midfielder Atlético Mineiro1978FalcãoCentral midfielder Internacional1979 Falcão (2)Central midfielder Internacional1980Toninho Cerezo (2)Central midfielder Atlético Mineiro1981 Paulo IsidoroAttacking midfielderGrêmio1982 Zico (2)Attacking midfielderFlamengo1983Roberto CostaGoalkeeper Athletico Paranaense1984Roberto Costa (2)GoalkeeperVasco da Gama1985 MarinhoRight winger Bangu1986 CarecaStriker São Paulo1987Renato GaúchoRight winger Flamengo1988Cláudio TaffarelGoalkeeperInternacional1989Ricardo RochaCentre-backSão Paulo1990César SampaioDefensive midfielderSantos1991Mauro SilvaDefensive midfielderBragantino1992 JúniorCentral midfielder Flamengo1993 César Sampaio (2)Defensive midfielder Palmeiras 1994AmorosoSecond striker Guarani1995GiovanniSecond striker Santos1996DjalminhaAttacking midfielder Palmeiras1997 EdmundoSecond striker Vasco da Gama1998 EdílsonSecond striker Corinthians1999 Marcelinho CariocaAttacking midfielder Corinthians2000 RomárioStriker Vasco da Gama2001 Alex MineiroStriker Athletico Paranaense2002KakáAttacking midfielder São Paulo2003 AlexAttacking midfielder Cruzeiro2004 RobinhoSecond striker Santos2005 Carlos TevezSecond striker Corinthians2006Lucas LeivaDefensive midfielder Grêmio2007Thiago NevesAttacking midfielder Fluminense2008 Rogério CeniGoalkeeper São Paulo2009 AdrianoStriker Flamengo2010 Darío ConcaAttacking midfielder Fluminense2011Neymar^Second striker Santos2012Neymar*^ (2)Second striker SantosRonaldinhoAttacking midfielder Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro2013 Éverton Ribeiro^Right midfielder Cruzeiro2014 Ricardo GoulartAttacking midfielder Cruzeiro2015 Renato Augusto^Central midfielder Corinthians2016 Gabriel Jesus^Striker Palmeiras2017 JôStriker Corinthians2018 Dudu^WingerPalmeiras2019 Gabriel Barbosa^StrikerFlamengo2020Claudinho^Attacking midfielder Red Bull Bragantino2021 Hulk^ForwardAtlético Mineiro2022 Gustavo Scarpa^Attacking midfielder Palmeiras2023 Luis Suárez^ForwardGrêmio2024 Estêvão Willian^Winger Palmeiras2025 Giorgian de Arrascaeta^Attacking midfielder Flamengo
The award was not originally given from 1970 to 1972, but the following players had the best evaluation:
Season Player Position Nationality Club Note1970Francisco ReyesDefensive midfielderFlamengo1971Dirceu LopesAttacking midfielder CruzeiroAward given in 2013 1972 Elías FigueroaCentre-back Internacional
Players with multiple awards ^Denotes players who are still active *Includes one Hors concours award
AwardsPlayerTeam(s)Years2ZicoFlamengo1974, 1982Toninho CerezoAtlético Mineiro1977, 1980FalcãoInternacional1978, 1979Roberto CostaAthletico Paranaense, Vasco da Gama1983, 1984César SampaioSantos, Palmeiras1990, 1993Neymar*^Santos2011, 2012
Wins by club ClubWinsFlamengoPalmeirasCorinthiansSantosSão PauloAtlético MineiroCruzeiroGrêmioInternacionalVasco da GamaAthletico ParanaenseFluminenseBanguBragantinoGuaraniRed Bull Bragantino
Bola de Prata Bola de Prata (Silver Ball) is given to the best players in their respective position (forward, defender, etc.) on the same points system. Therefore, the Brazilian team of the year is created.Bola de Prata – Histórico , ESPN, 29 June 2017 In 1973, Placar introduced the "Bola de Ouro", given to the best player of the league, according to Placar itself. In this year, two players shared the Bola de Ouro, this situation never occurred again. Players marked bold won the "Bola de Ouro" in that respective year.