A bit of an uproar formed around this year’s Ballon d’Or. Disappointed Vinícius Júnior and his club, Real Madrid, boycotted the ceremony in Paris, offended that the prestigious award went to Manchester City’s Rodri instead of the Brazilian.Real Madrid did have other honorees, as Carlo Ancelotti was named Coach of the Year, Jude Bellingham placed third in the player rankings, and Dani Carvajal placed fourth. The club also received the Best Team award, but none of this changed the stance of Madrid’s management, who decided not to travel to France.Spanish media extensively covered the matter, reporting that the club received information about the winner the night before the ceremony. At first, these were just rumors, but then confirmation led to a mutual decision with their player to boycott the event. Not a single member of the Real Madrid delegation, which was expected to include around 50 people, went to Paris.It turned out the information reaching Madrid the day before the official announcement was accurate. Tonight, L’Équipe revealed the exact points Rodri received versus Vinícius. Rodri led by 41 points, with 1,170 points compared to Vinícius’ 1,129.##NAJAVA_MECA_8486585##The complete breakdown of points will be published on Saturday in a special edition of France Football dedicated to the Ballon d’Or, but L’Équipe disclosed some additional intriguing numbers this evening.Although it was initially stated that 100 journalists from FIFA’s 100 top-ranked member countries would decide the Player of the Year, only 99 participated as there was no representative from Syria. Each jury member voted for ten players, awarding 15 points for first place, 12 for second, 10 for third, and so on, down to 1 point for the tenth position.Besides Rodri and Vinícius, seven other players received nominations. Bellingham was nominated five times, Carvajal four, Toni Kroos twice, and once each for Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Lautaro Martinez, and Ademola Lookman! It will be interesting to see who considers the Atalanta and Nigeria forward the best player in the world at this moment.🚨 Apart from Vini Jr. and Rodri these players got Ballon d’Or 1st place votes: • Jude Bellingham — 5 votes• Dani Carvajal — 4 votes• Toni Kroos — 2 votes• Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Lautaro Martinez, Ademola Lookman — 1 vote each. @lequipe pic.twitter.com/Zi7pc3JqxJ— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) November 8, 2024 Five voters did not include Rodri in their Top 10, while three left Vinícius out. Nobody managed to guess the exact order of the top five or ten on the list, although seven voters did correctly predict the top four. These votes came from England, Australia, the United States, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Norway, and Slovakia.Here is a reminder of the complete list of Europe’s (and thus the world’s) top footballers for 2024:1.Rodri (Manchester City, Spain)2.Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid, Brazil)3.Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, England)4.Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid, Spain)5.Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway)6.Kylian Mbappé (PSG, France)7.Lautaro Martinez (Inter, Argentina)8.Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, Spain)9.Toni Kroos (Real Madrid, Germany)10.Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England)11.Phil Foden (Manchester City, England)12.Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany)13.Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig, Spain)14.Ademola Lookman (Atalanta, Nigeria)15.Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao, Spain)16.Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen, Switzerland)17.Federico Valverde (Real Madrid, Uruguay)18.Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa, Argentina)19.Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal, Norway)20.Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Inter, Turkey)21.Bukayo Saka (Arsenal, England)22.Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid, Germany)23.Rúben Dias (Manchester City, Portugal)24.William Saliba (Arsenal, France)25.Cole Palmer (Chelsea, England)26.Declan Rice (Arsenal, England)27.Vitinha (PSG, Portugal)28.Álex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen, Spain)29.Artem Dovbyk (Girona, Ukraine), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund, Germany)
