There’s no ‘I’ in team but there is one in ‘best player in the world’ — and that, one and all, is where the Ballon d’Or comes in.
Crowning the number one footballer in the world over the last year may seem like a fool’s errand given the multitude of nuances involved but that’s what the France Football magazine has been doing since 1956 and, on Wednesday night, the nominees for the 2024 men’s award were announced.
The big names were all there (you’d think so, given that there 30 players put on the shortlist) and will be voted on by a group of pesky journalists before the winner is named on October 28.
So, now that we know the identities of the players who could be named as the sport’s leading light — and, for the first time since 2003, that won’t be one of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo — we can discuss who was lucky to be included, who was unlucky to miss out and who seems nailed-on to win it.
Here, four writers from The Athletic critique this year’s Ballon d’Or nominations.
Who was the most surprising inclusion?
Ademola Lookman had the night to remember when he scored a hat-trick in the Europa League final in May. It was a campaign that also saw him help Nigeria to the Africa Cup of Nations final, scoring three goals in the process.
However, Lookman did not set the world alight across the whole season, managing just 55 per cent of Atalanta’s league minutes as he was rotated in and out of Gian Piero Gasperini’s side. His was a strong campaign, sure, but perhaps it’s a surprise to see him in the top 30 players for the year.
Mark Carey
GO DEEPER
Ademola Lookman on his Europa League heroics with Atalanta and scoring ‘for the streets’
Vitinha. A really good player, no doubt, but what have I missed? Compared with the other midfielders on the shortlist and what they achieved, it is difficult to make an argument in his favour — particularly after Portugal’s disappointing Euro 2024.
Dani Olmo is quite fortunate, too. He deserves to be considered among the best players in the world and he was exceptional in Germany over the summer, but that was form he rarely produced in the Bundesliga or Champions League during 2023-24. In fact, he only started 19 games in those competitions combined.
Seb Stafford-Bloor
Dani Olmo had a good Euros and, while that’s important, the award is supposed to reflect the whole of last season in which case, someone like Riccardo Calafiori (for example) is more deserving as he excelled for Bologna. As a Wolves, fan it still amazes me the heights Vitinha has reached. Also, the award is supposed to take good behaviour and fair play into account, so Emi Martinez can count himself lucky (don’t @ me, Aston Villa fans, I’m just joking).
Tim Spiers
Dani Olmo joined Barcelona from RB Leipzig this summer (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Honestly, Emiliano Martinez. I think his year was 2022 with the World Cup but I don’t think his season is worth a Ballon d’Or nomination. He won the Copa America and I see some justification there but with Aston Villa, even though they had a good season, they ‘only’ qualified for the Champions League. I understand what this means for the club but I don’t know if he deserves a nomination.
Laia Cervelló Herrero
Who was the most unfortunate player to be left off?
If we’re going on pure attacking numbers, Serhou Guirrassy could be disappointed that he didn’t make the list. With 28 goals (plus three assists), only six players in Europe’s top five leagues had more goal contributions than Guirassy last season — and five of them made the list (poor Ollie Watkins).
Guirassy’s rate of 1.1 goals per 90 last season was bettered by no other player in Europe. It earned him a move to Borussia Dortmund but sadly, was not enough to earn him a place on this shortlist.
Mark Carey
Jamal Musiala was probably the most talented player to be left off but how about Lukas Hradecky, the Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper and captain? Leverkusen are well represented with Florian Wirtz, Alejandro Grimaldo and Granit Xhaka, and all three deserve their place, but Hradecky was subtly fundamental to what Xabi Alonso’s side achieved and reached an extremely high level that, previously, many thought he was incapable of.
He was one game away from leading a team to an unbeaten domestic and continental treble, after all.
Seb Stafford-Bloor
Again, if we’re going on form over the whole year, how Mats Hummels is there and Virgil van Dijk isn’t makes little sense. Jamal Musiala was surely in the top 30 players of last season. Also, with 19 goals and 13 assists for his club, plus having won the Premier League and the Copa America, Julian Alvarez deserves a shout.
Most disappointingly of all, especially in an AFCON year, only one African player makes the list and even Ademola Lookman’s inclusion might have more to do with Atalanta than Nigeria.
Had William Troost-Ekong been named best player at the Euros rather than AFCON, he’d have been guaranteed to be on there, ditto James Rodriguez at the Copa America, but this remains a Euro-centric award almost exclusively for players based on the continent. It’s very strange not seeing Lionel Messi on there.
Tim Spiers
Call me old school or romantic but Leo Messi. Yes, I know he’s not playing in one of the big leagues but I find strange to see an award that he deserved every year previously without him after… 18 years? I know he has been injured for months and it has not been his best season, but he has also won the Copa America with Argentina like Martinez.
Laia Cervelló Herrero
Lionel Messi has won eight Ballons d’Or – a ninth won’t arrive this year (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
Who will finish in the top three?
Rodri, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior — in that order.
Mark Carey
Vinicius Jr, Rodri, Erling Haaland.
Seb Stafford-Bloor
Vinicius Junior hasn’t made the top three in the Ballon d’Or vote… yet (Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s hard to imagine Rodri or Vinicius Jr not being up there. As for the third player, going on previous voting habits, it’s probably between Dani Carvajal, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and maybe Lautaro Martinez? Let’s say Carvajal.
Tim Spiers
I can imagine Rodri and Vinicius Jr in the top three without a doubt, and the third is probably Kylian Mbappe.
And I know that many will disagree and that it is very hasty because he did not have a full season at Barcelona, but if Lamine Yamal was there, despite his youth and the fact that it is his first full season in the elite, I think he would also deserve a place — because of the weight he had with Spain’s Euro 2024 champions and with a club as big as Barca too at 17 years of age. His level was out of the ordinary. Maybe I’m saying this too soon but I’ll just drop this suggestion here and go.
Laia Cervelló Herrero
Who do you think will win — and who should win?
All roads lead to Rodri. He has been the most consistent, dominant, influential player for club and country in the past 12 months. He has his fingerprints on anything his team does well — in and out of possession — with a Premier League and European Championship to show for his efforts.
It is about time more midfielders won this individual trophy. No one would be more deserving.
Mark Carey
Manchester City’s Rodri – a popular choice (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Vinicius Jr will likely win, but Rodri probably should. It does still feel as if attacking players are overprivileged, as is success and performances in the Champions League. It’s quite interesting that, despite what Manchester City have achieved in his time at the club, Rodri has never so much has made the top three. Understandable in one sense because it can be hard to price his contribution accurately, but also clearly an oversight.
Seb Stafford-Bloor
GO DEEPER
Why Rodri winning the Ballon d’Or would be both good and bad news for Manchester City
Rodri.
Tim Spiers (that’s just my name, I don’t think I should win it)
Rodri. Although, there are players like Dani Carvajal who have won all the big trophies like the Champions League, La Liga and the Euros, I think Rodri — although he didn’t win the Champions League — deserves it for what he is bringing to Manchester City, arguably one of the best sides in Europe.
His position is undervalued in the individual awards but I think he should be the one to win, and I think he will.
Laia Cervelló Herrero
(Top photos: Getty Images)
