The Ballon d’Or is the most prestigious individual award a football player can aspire to win. Recently dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi (who won 13 out of 15 possible awards), the 2023/24 season saw lots of players up for grabs, but three players stood out the most:
Vinicius Jr
Part of a dominant Real Madrid side that won a Champions League and La Liga double, Vinicius was the massive favourite to win. Despite a relatively slow start to the season, Vini managed to get 15 goals in just 26 La Liga games, scoring crucial goals when his team needed him most. With unstoppable dribbling and skills to give defenders nightmares, Vinicius certainly gave us a show.
Rodri
In contrast, Rodri spent the season acting as the metronome for Manchester City, acting as the ultimate modern-day defensive midfielder; the 63 games he played for City saw no losses; City conceded 0.9 goals per game on average when he was on the pitch, but also scored 2.4 average goals, showing his contribution all over. It’s no wonder that City struggled as they have since he got injured in 2024/25.
Jude Bellingham
Coming off a €103 million move from Borussia Dortmund, expectations for Bellingham were high, and he undoubtedly delivered. His 35 goals in 54 games came as a shock from the midfielder, scoring many goals to win Madrid matches, best shown in his late goals to beat Barcelona in the El Clasico matches. His explosive start gave way to shoulder issues, and he may not have provided the goods as much during the second half of the season, but he most certainly enjoyed the first half.
The Winner
Vinicius was the clear favourite in the buildup to the ceremony. His manager Carlo Ancelotti said he’d won it, and nobody thought he wouldn’t; even Ederson, Rodri’s teammate, thought Vini would come out on top! But alas, Rodri had won the Euro 2024 (unbeaten, of course) while Vini didn’t manage to achieve much with Brazil (only reaching the quarter-finals), and Bellingham could not contribute to England as much as he may have wished. News of Rodri’s win was leaked hours before the ceremony, causing Madrid to boycott the award, which did go to Rodri, who won by just 41 votes. Rumours of Vini’s unrest suggest that he did not take the loss happily and may return for more in what will surely be the most interesting Ballon d’Or in a while.
Sources:
- https://www.transfermarkt.co.za/vinicius–junior/leistungsdaten/spieler/371998/saison/2023/wettbewerb/ES1#google_vignette
- https://www.si.com/soccer/rodri-stats-for-2024-ballon-d-or-why-the-man-city-midfielder-won
- https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/jude-bellingham-stats-2023-24-real-madrid-england-goals-assists/18e47b83aa5e003e368ce1ce
