Voting: Who Should Win Ballon D’or 2024

Voting: Who Should Win Ballon D’or 2024

Global Voting For Ballon D’or 2024: Who Should Win Ballon D’or 2024

As the football world eagerly anticipates the 2024 Ballon d’Or, the debate over who deserves the prestigious award intensifies.

The race for the Golden Ball is into the final stretch – so which of the game’s biggest stars are true contenders, and who are merely pretenders?

After a season headlined by him finally getting his hands on the World Cup, Lionel Messi took home his eighth Ballon d’Or after picking up the 2023 prize in Paris back in October.

Now, the debate is raging as we gradually move towards knowing the identity of the 2024 winner. Though club games in Europe are now over for another season, it continues to be an intense race.

Along with the usual domestic ups and downs, this is a campaign that has the majority of the globe’s best players taking part in international tournaments, including the Euro and Copa America.

So after a year that was defined by the battle between Messi’s tournament success for Argentina and Erling Haaland’s season-long superiority at Manchester City, how much of a bearing on the 2024 Ballon d’Or race will those international competitions have?

With a year filled with exceptional performances, standout players from various leagues are in contention. Here’s a look at the top candidates and who might emerge as the rightful winner.

1. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid CF/England)

In 2023-24: 27 goals, 16 assists. Won Champions League, La Liga & Supercopa de Espana.

The best footballer in the world during the first half of the 2023-24 season, Bellingham took to his new surroundings at Real Madrid like no signing since Cristiano Ronaldo. Not only did he score frequently, but he also netted hugely important goals, too.

He has since scored crucial goals for England at Euro 2024, including his last-gasp overhead-kick against Slovakia to keep the Three Lions’ tournament alive in the last 16. Bellingham and his team-mates are now just two wins away from international glory – and perhaps a Golden Ball for the boy from Birmingham.

2. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid CF/Brazil)

In 2023-24: 26 goals, 12 assists. Won Champions League, La Liga & Supercopa de Espana.

Injury meant that Vinicius did not got off to the fast start many might have expected when Karim Benzema left Real Madrid, but after finally shaking off his fitness issues, the winger was back to his best – and them some.

He netted a hat-trick to help beat Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup, while he was in fine goal-scoring form in La Liga as Carlo Ancelotti’s side secured the title at home.

Perhaps most notably, though, he was the outstanding player in both legs of Madrid’s Champions League semi-final win over Bayern Munich, and he went on to light up Wembley in the final by scoring the second goal in the win over Borussia Dortmund.

His summer, however, has not gone to plan as Brazil were crashed out of the Copa America 2024.

3. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain FC/France)

In 2023-24: 52 goals, 20 assists. Won Ligue 1, Coupe de France & Trophee des Champions.

The saga is over, as we now know that this was Mbappe’s final Ballon d’Or campaign as a Paris Saint-Germain player, with his protracted move to Real Madrid having been made official.

Mbappe’s goals sealed a third-successive Ligue 1 title for the Parisians, but the forward’s dream of bringing European success to Parc des Princes was ended with defeat in the Champions League semi-finals to Borussia Dortmund.

France’s early performances at Euro 2024 suggest further disappointment could await Mbappe, with the now-masked forward struggling to deal with a broken nose. However, Les Bleus have still reached the semi-finals, and the big stage could be where the real Mbappe now shows up.

4. Harry Kane (FC Bayern Munich/England)

In 2023-24: 51 goals, 14 assists.

Kane’s move to Bayern was meant to put him in a spot where he could finally end the wait for a first trophy of his career, but the Bavarians finished the season without any silverware after surrendering the Bundesliga title to Bayer Leverkusen and losing out to Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final.

Kane did score at a record-breaking rate and averaged more than a goal a game in the league for the deposed champions. However, those exertions look to have taken a lot out of the England captain, and he has looked laboured at Euro 2024 despite scoring twice in five games.

5. Phil Foden (Manchester City/England)

In 2023-24: 28 goals, 12 assists. Won Premier League, Club World Cup & UEFA Super Cup.

As Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland missed chunks of the season through injury, Foden stepped up in spectacular fashion for City and enjoyed the best campaign of his already illustrious career to date.

He scored two Premier League hat-tricks after the turn of the year, as well as a stunning brace on the final day to seal a fourth-successive domestic title for Pep Guardiola’s side, though his superb strike at Santiago Bernabeu against Real Madrid ended up counting for nothing as City crashed out of the Champions League on penalties in the quarter-finals.

The newly-crowned Premier League Player of the Year hasn’t quite carried that form into Euro 2024, however, with Foden’s struggles to make an impact for England continuing in Germany this summer despite the Three Lions’ run to the semi-finals.

6. Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan/Argentina)

In 2023-24: 34 goals, eight assists. Won Serie A & Supercoppa Italiana.

If any moment summed up Lautaro’s big-match struggles, it was his woeful penalty in Inter’s shootout loss to Atletico Madrid that ended their hopes of reaching a second-successive Champions League final in the last 16.

The striker was on a tear in Serie A this past season, though, as he led Inter to a dominant title win, and could yet be part of a victorious Argentina squad at the Copa America.

He has certainly got off to a good start in that regard, as he netted four times during the group stages to put himself in pole position to claim the Golden Boot.

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