Driving the Netherlands squad to the World Cup final, Sneijder was in the spotlight as one of the promising candidates for FIFA's Golden Ball award, which was given to Uruguay's Diego Forlan.

斯内德所在的荷兰国家队打入本届世界杯的决赛，他本人的表现也备受关注，更入围了国际足联金球奖的评选。但最终斩获金球奖的却是乌拉圭人弗兰。