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World Cup betting players are getting anxious for the first kick of the ball in South Africa in just under two weeks, and here are your top candidates to win the Golden Ball, given to the best player in the tournament.

Lionel Messi, Argentina

Messi is the reigning World Player of the Year and is coming off yet another mind-boggling season with 49 goals in 58 games. The problem is that only two of those goals came with 10 games with Argentina, and it seems like manager Diego Maradona has no idea how to use him (shocking, we know, he’s a brilliant manager). He’s never quite brought his Barcelona form to the national team, and at 22 (he’ll turn 23 on June 24), the world is watching Messi.

Kaka, Brazil

The 2007 World Player of the Year, Kaka had a less-than-stellar debut at Real Madrid, often battling injuries and ineffectiveness. But when he’s healthy, we all know that Kaka can dazzle teams with his trickery. He may be counted on for more as manager Dunga left Ronaldinho out of the squad, which means that Kaka will probably be thrust into the No.10 role behind the striker. He’ll have to be at his best from the start as World Cup Group G betting players have seen Brazil drawn with Portugal and the Ivory Coast.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal

The 2008 World Player of the Year, Ronaldo got off to a tough start after leaving Manchester United for Real Madrid, but he ended the season with 33 goals in 37 matches in all competitions. But like Messi, Ronaldo has had problems translating that form into production for the national team, and he failed to score during the qualification stage. Now the captain of the team, Ronaldo needs to step up as Portugal is an intriguing soccer betting darkhorse here.

Didier Drogba, Ivory Coast

Drogba was named the player of the year at Chelsea, notching 39 goals in 43 games for the Blues, and as captain of the Ivorians, Drogba is at the heart of all of their moves, either starting or finishing. It’s recently been announced that Drogba is putting off a hernia operation until after the World Cup, so it’ll be interesting to see if that affects him because of Drogba is ailing, the Ivory Coast has no shot.

Wayne Rooney, England

Rooney won the Premiership’s player of the year award after 26 goals in 32 games for Manchester United, and he had 40 goals in all, with six coming for England. Manager Fabio Capello is trying to tailor the side to Rooney’s strengths, much like Sir Alex Ferguson at United, and he’s a smart man for doing so as Rooney was hurt in the run-in to the 2006 World Cup, when England went out in the quarterfinals. Now that he’s healthy, Rooney has many people wanting to lay a sports bet on England for the World Cup.

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