The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by the French news magazine, French Football and it is one of the oldest and generally regarded as the most prestigious individual award for football players.Stanley Matthews won the first edition of the award in 1956, while playing for England and Blackpool.
However, the most recent winner is Lionel Messi upon winning the award ahead of other contenders including Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri
The duo of Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the award since 2008, with 13 of the awards between both players; 8 record times for Messi including last year, while Ronaldo has claimed the award 5 times.Having established this, it is not far-fetched to conclude that Messi and Ronaldo are out of sight for the 2024 edition of the award for obvious reasons.Hence, below are the top five players in pole position to win the award according to a recent fan vote that was conducted on Ballon d’Or’s official website.Real Madrid star, Vinicius Jr. had the majority of the fans vote on the organiser’s website, amassing 64.6% votes.Vinicius’ votes stem from his scintillating performances last season, registering 15 goals in 26 La Liga games, and increasing the tally to 24 in 36 games across all competitions. The Brazilian contributions also resulted in a lot of success for the Spanish heavyweight, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side winning vital trophies including La Liga, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup.
The poll ranked Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez as second with 8.2% votes following his good run of form for the Italian outfit and in Argentina colours.Martinez scored 27 goals for his club side in 44 games, and 24 of those goals came in the Italian Serie A.
He also won the Copa America Golden Boot with 5 goals and made the Team of the Tournament. He equally won the Serie A top scorer, Serie A Most Valuable Player, made the Serie A Team of the 2023/2024 Season.
Former Borussia Dortmund player, Jude Bellingham, who hit the ground running upon joining Real Madrid also made it to the ranking in the third place with the same vote as Martinez (8.2%).Bellingham lived up to expectations in Los Blancos colours, netting 19 La Liga goals, and 23 goals in all competitions, thus played a pivotal role in Real Madrid’s achievements last season. He also had a good outing with England in Euro 2024, as he bagged two goals in the tournament that saw the Three Lions finished as runners-up to Spain.Consequently, the midfielder was awarded the La Liga Player of the Season, made the Team of the Season, as well as that of the UCL. He also claimed the UCL Young Player of the 2023/2024 Season.
Rodri was ranked fourth with 6.6% votes, and as always, he was instrumental for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City as they lifted the Premier League title, making his mark in the middle of the pack, with 8 goal contributions in the process. This earned him a place in the PFA Team of the Year.
He also extended his brilliant play to the La Furia Roja of Spain in Euro 2024, leading to his side’s success at the expense of England in the final, thereby winning the Player of the Tournament, and also among the Team of the Tournament.Barcelona youngster, Lamine Yamal, who came into the limelight last season had 4.6% of the votes in fifth. Yamal had 50 appearances for Barcelona last season and netted 7 times.He won the Euro 2024 with Spain, scoring a goal and providing 4 assists, and was awarded Young Player of the Tournament, and won the Goal of Tournament with the strike against France in a 2-1 victory in the semi-final. Yamal made history with the goal, becoming the youngest scorer in the tournament at 16 years and 362 days old.Ballon d’Or Award Ceremony – Date, Time, VenueThe 68th edition of the ceremony, established in 1956, is set to take place on Monday, October 28. The event will begin at 7 p.m. UK time and will be hosted at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France.
