Top 10 Ballon d'Or Candidates

In mid-July 2024, the curtain fell on a hot football season that witnessed many local and continental championships at the club level, in addition to 4 championships for national teams, so the question began about the identity of the player nominated to win the 2024 Golden Ball award.

The 2023-2024 season will see the Africa Cup of Nations, the Asian Cup, and most importantly the European Cup (Euro 2024) and Copa America, which will increase the excitement and anticipation around the player who will succeed the Argentine Lionel Messi, the Inter Miami player, in winning the most prestigious individual award in the history of football.

The Spanish version of the min90 website believes that Messi's winning of the Golden Ball for the season before last (2022-2023) is not surprising, especially since it came after his success in leading his country to win the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

In the following lines, we review the candidates for the 2024 Ballon d'Or and the achievements of 10 of them during the past season, including Messi in particular. One of them will certainly be the winner of the award presented by the famous French magazine France Football.

• 1- Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)

Many believe that the young English star, 21 years old, is the most deserving of winning the 2024 Ballon d'Or, after the fantastic season he had with the "Royal" club, both individually and collectively.

Bellingham played 42 matches in all tournaments, scoring 23 goals and providing 13 assists to his teammates, to win the Spanish League and Champions League titles, preceded by the Spanish Super Cup and the European Super Cup.

Bellingham continued his brilliance in Euro 2024 with the England national team, scoring a magical goal against Slovakia that saved the Three Lions from elimination in the round of 16, but his hopes of winning the title were dashed by the quality of Spain, who defeated England in the final with a score of 2-1.

• 2- Rodri (Manchester City)

Many believe that the Spanish midfielder deserves to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or award due to his extraordinary quality and consistent performances with both Manchester City and the Spanish national team.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente praised his player Rodri after winning the European Cup (Euro 2024) and nominated him to win the award, saying: "Please.. give Rodri the Golden Ball now."

Rodri's goal tally may be his biggest weakness, but no one can deny or underestimate the tactical roles he provides on the pitch, which helped the Citizens retain the English Premier League title for the fourth time in a row, and the Spanish national team win the European Cup (Euro 2024).

Rodri has made 50 appearances for Manchester City, scoring nine goals and providing 14 assists, and has also scored once for Spain at the Euros.

• 3- Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)

The Brazilian star reached his peak during the 2023-2024 season and led "Los Blancos" to win four titles: the Spanish League, the Spanish Super Cup, the European Super Cup, and the Champions League.

Vinicius scored a hat-trick against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final, as well as the second goal against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final. These goals were among 24 goals scored by Vinicius in 39 matches in all competitions, in addition to 11 assists.

In the summer, Vinicius scored two goals in three matches for Brazil in the Copa America, before missing the most important match against Uruguay in the quarter-finals, which ended with the "Seleção" being eliminated from the competition on penalties.

• 4- Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)

Haaland came close to winning the award last year after leading the Citizens to a historic treble, but Messi's victory in the Qatar World Cup deprived him of that, leaving him with second place. Now he is looking forward to winning the 2024 Ballon d'Or despite the strong competition.

• 7- Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)

The 21-year-old German has established himself as one of the stars of the near future in the world of football, thanks to his legendary performances with Bayer Leverkusen in recent years, which were crowned with two achievements, one of which is the first in the club’s history.

Wirtz played 49 matches in all competitions, scoring 18 goals and providing 20 assists, contributing to Bayer Leverkusen winning the German League title for the first time, as well as winning the German Cup, while his team lost the Europa League final to Atalanta.

He also scored two goals in five matches with the German national team in the European Cup (Euro 2024), which was eliminated from the competition in the quarter-finals.

• 8- Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)

Once the Argentine national team was crowned Copa America 2024 champion, "La Pulga" established himself as a strong candidate to win the 2024 Golden Ball award for the ninth time in his history.

This comes despite his presence in a relatively weak championship (the American Professional League) and with a team that does not befit his name (Inter Miami), but Messi’s name still maintains its brilliance and prestige as one of the best players in history, and there are those who see him as the best ever.

• 9- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Despite his poor season on a collective level with Liverpool, the Egyptian star's individual numbers are enough to make him at least among the candidates for the 2024 Ballon d'Or.

Salah scored 28 goals and provided 14 assists in 44 matches in all competitions, and these numbers show how good Salah is.

• 10- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

The player was close to leading his team to win the English Premier League title 2023-2024, but Manchester City clinched the championship in the last round, but that does not diminish the value of the individual numbers presented by Saka, who played 47 matches in all tournaments in which he scored 20 goals, 16 of which were in the Premier League.

On the international level, Saka's luck was similar to his domestic situation, as he reached the Euro 2024 final with England but lost the title to Spain, losing 1-2, after a tournament in which he scored a goal and made another.