2024-09-06 03:01:35
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are immortal names in the history of Ballon d’Or. These two have captured the receipt of this award. Almost every time these two names graced the shortlist. After 21 long years, that continuity was interrupted. This is the first time since 2003 that two of the greatest stars of all time are not on the Ballon d’Or shortlist.
The shortlist for this year’s Ballon d’Or was revealed on Wednesday (September 4) night. Initially, 30 people made it to this award list of the French magazine ‘France Football’. The top names in this list are Araling Aland, Vinicius Jr., Judd Bellingham and Rodri.
In the past 16 years, Messi and Ronaldo have won the Ballon d’Or 13 times. Messi has won a record eight times, followed by Ronaldo with the second highest five. From 2008 to 2017, none other than these two could win the award. Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric won in 2018.
The award was not given in 2020 due to covid. Before and after this, Messi won again in two years. In 2022, it was in the hands of Karim Benzema, a French striker who was then in Real. Messi won the award for the eighth time in 2023 after winning the World Cup in the same year.
The Ballon d’Or was held for the last time as Messi and Ronaldo left Europe. Ronaldo had a great time for Al Nasr last season. The 39-year-old forward scored 44 goals in 45 matches for the club across all competitions. However, the euro was faded.
Meanwhile, although Argentina won the Copa America, Messi could not do well in the event personally. He is still out of the field with an ankle injury in the final. He didn’t do too badly for Club Inter Miami. However, it was not enough to secure a place in the Ballon d’Or.
This time, Real’s Brazilian forward Vinicius is leading the list of winning this award. He made a big contribution to Real’s Champions League, La Liga and Spanish Super Cup wins last season. Holland is fighting with him. Last season he played 31 matches and scored 27 goals. He scored 38 goals in 45 matches for the club last season in all competitions.
By joining Real last season, Bellingham proved himself very well. This English midfielder scored 6 assists with 19 goals in 28 matches in La Liga. He has 4 goals and 5 assists in 11 matches in the Champions League. In addition to scoring 23 goals in 42 matches in all competitions, he also contributed to 13 goals for his teammates.
The prize will be handed over to the winner at a grand ceremony in Paris on October 28.
Shortlist of 30 for Ballon d’Or: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Arling Haaland (Manchester City), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen), Artem Dovic (Girona/Roma), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Dani Olmo (Barcelona), Florian Virtz (Bayer Leverkusen), Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), Mats Hummels ( Borussia Dortmund), Rodri (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Vitinia (PSG), Cole Palmer (Manchester City/Chelsea), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Hakan Kalhanoglu (Inter Milan), William Saliba (Arsenal), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Ademola Lookman (Atalanta), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen)