For the first time since 2003, both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been left off the shortlist for the coveted men’s Ballon d’Or award. The Ballon d’Or award celebrates the world’s elite professional football players based on their performance for their club and national teams during the year. A panel of experts, typically journalists, creates a list of 30 players who will be nominated for the award based on their performance throughout the season. The winner is decided by one hundred journalists from FIFA’s 100 top-ranked member nations. Each individual casts their top five choices from the list and that ranking corresponds to several points: first place, six points; second place, four points; third place, three points; fourth place, two points; fifth place, one point. Whichever player has the most points after the voting is named that year’s Ballon d’Or winner.
Coming off the EURO 2024 victory, the Spanish national team has six players nominated for the award, including seventeen-year-old FC Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal. The youngster’s skills dazzled throughout the tournament, with a nearly 80% passing accuracy. Dani Carvajal is favored to win this year’s Ballon d’Or after winning both the La Liga and Champions League titles with Real Madrid, along with the EURO 2024. Alongside Yamal and Carvajal, teammates Alejandro Grimaldo, Dani Olmo, Rodri, and Nico Williams have also been nominated for this prestigious award.
England, the EURO 2024 runners-up, also have 6 players nominated. Among them are Jude Bellingham, a midfield powerhouse for Real Madrid, and England EURO campaign captain Harry Kane, who plays for Bayern Munich. Additionally, players Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, and Phil Foden have been added to England’s list of Ballon d’Or nominees.
Real Madrid continues to dominate the football world with four players nominated for the Ballon d’Or. Nominees include Kylian Mbappé, a powerhouse forward for the Spanish team, along with Brazilian Vinícius Júnior, and midfielder legend Toni Kroos, along with Jude Bellingham.
Other top contenders include Argentine Lautaro Martínez of Inter who scored five goals at Copa America, winning the Golden Boot award. Erling Haaland, who many believe should have won the 2023 Ballon d’Or, is another contender for the award having scored 38 goals during his 2023/24 season. However, Norway’s failure to qualify for the EURO 2024 meant that Haaland didn’t have the opportunity to highlight his skills during the summer tournament in Germany.
With both Messi and Ronaldo being left off the Ballon d’Or shortlist, this marks the end of an era for football with questions regarding who will emerge as the new front runners.
Full list of the 2024 Ballon d’Or Nominees:
Jude Bellingham (England/Real Madrid)
Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Turkey/Inter)
Dani Carvajal (Spain/Real Madrid)
Rúben Dias (Portugal/Manchester City)
Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine/Dnipro,Giron,Roma)
Phil Foden (England/Manchester City)
Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain/Bayer Leverkusen)
Erling Haaland (Norway/Manchester City)
Mats Hummels (Germany/Borussia Dortmund)
Harry Kane (England/Bayern Munich)
Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid)
Ademola Lookman (Nigeria/Atalanta)
Emiliano Martínez (Argentina/Aston Villa)
Lautaro Martínez (Argentina/Inter )
Kylian Mbappé (France/Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid)
Martin Ødegaard (Norway/Arsenal)
Dani Olmo (Spain/Leipzig, Barcelona)
Cole Palmer (England/Manchester City, Chelsea)
Declan Rice (England/Arsenal)
Rodri (Spain/Manchester City)
Antonio Rüdiger (Germany/Real Madrid)
Bukayo Saka (England/Arsenal)
William Saliba (France/Arsenal)
Federico Valverde (Uruguay/Real Madrid)
Vinícius Júnior (Brazil/Real Madrid)
Vitinha (Portugal/Paris Saint-Germain)
Nico Williams (Spain/Athletic Club)
Florian Wirtz (Germany/Bayer Leverkusen)
Granit Xhaka (Switzerland/Bayer Leverkusen)
Lamine Yamal (Spain/Barcelona)
The Ballon d’Or awards ceremony is set to take place at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on October 28, 2024.
Freshman Lavanya Seshasayee is a Contributing Writer. Her email is lseshasa@fandm.edu