The Ballon d'Or 2024 winner will be announced in Paris on Monday night, with the best players from around the world all attending the awards ceremony in the hope of lifting the Golden Ball at the end of the evening.
Those hopes of being crowned the Ballon d'Or winner might have already been dashed for some players, though, with leaks revealing the top 12 of the award.
Each year, a journalist from the 100 best countries in the latest FIFA rankings all select their top ten players from the previous season from the list of 30 nominees. The ten selected players are awarded 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point respectively, with the winner the player with the most points at the end of voting.
The front page of Spanish newspaper Marca has already revealed that Vinicius Jr. has won the Ballon d'Or for 2024, however, while a leaked list on social media shows the top 12 players in the men's game. As per the Daily Mail, the list shows the amount of points certain players have scored in this year's voting, where they have placed and ultimately confirming that Real Madrid's Brazilian winger will indeed pick up the award on Monday night.
Ballon d'Or 2024 winner and top 12
- Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid & Brazil) - 630 points
- Rodri (Manchester City & Spain) - 576 points
- Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid & England) - 422 points
- Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid & France) - 317 points
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich & England) - 201 points
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City & Norway) - 195 points
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona & Spain) - 128 points
- Phil Foden (Manchester City & England) - 29 points
- Dani Olmo (Barcelona & Spain) - 25 points
- Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen & Germany) - 24 points
- Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid & Spain) - 17 points
- Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid & Germany) - points total unknown
Following a hugely impressive 2023/24 campaign in which he inspired Real Madrid to the La Liga title and Champions League, Vinicius Jr, who is ranked no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the best players in the world right now, quickly emerged as the favourite for the crown as the season progressed. But, with a maximum of 1500 points on offer, Vinicius Jr was run closely for the award by Rodri.
The Spaniard lifted the Premier League trophy with Manchester City, before dominating with Spain at Euro 2024. Though not a player who scores a lot of goals or even receives a lot of recognition for his work, the voters clearly understood the impact the central midfielder had on his sides last term. The 54-point difference is certainly a slim one, especially considering the outright wins Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have both enjoyed in recent times.
Three Englishman, meanwhile, have made the top ten, with Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane and Phil Foden all recognised for their stellar seasons for their respective clubs and the national team. Had England won Euro 2024, then it's possible they could've finished even higher.
After finishing second to Messi last year - who didn't even get nominated for the 2024 award - Erling Haaland drops to sixth despite scoring 38 goals in 45 games last term as Manchester City won the Premier League.
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The Norwegian places just above Lamine Yamal, whose top-ten finish at 17 is simply astonishing. For context, Messi and Ronaldo were both 19 when they were nominated for the award, with the Argentine coming 20th in 2006 while the Portuguese finished 12th in 2004.
Perhaps the most surprising of all top ten finishes, though, is Dani Olmo. While he enjoyed a strong Euro 2024 and impressed at club level with RB Leipzig, before earning a summer move to Barcelona, the forward spent a large spell of last term on the sidelines injured. This meant he played just 25 games in all competitions at club level.
