Football
Leo’s last Ballon d’Or. Who will be the best in the era without Messi and Ronaldo
Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe / Photo: © Eurasia Sport Images / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru, Catherine Ivill / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru, Sebastian Frej/MB Media / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
Next year, the main individual award will be taken by someone else.
On Monday evening, Lionel Messi will receive his eighth Ballon d’Or in his career. Formally, the winner of the valuable prize is unknown, but leaks several weeks before the ceremony cast no doubt on the voting results. The question of the winner could be considered resolved back in December 2022, when Leo led the Argentina national team to the long-awaited world title.
There is also no doubt that this Ballon d’Or will be the last for the 36-year-old striker. After moving to the USA, he virtually eliminated himself from the list of contenders for the prize in the future. Next year someone else will receive the prestigious award.
The list of main contenders for the 2024 Ballon d’Or is clear now.
Incredible Jude
At the start of the new European season, there is no brighter player than the Real Madrid newcomer. In just a couple of months, Jude Bellingham gained the status of a real superstar, although in Dortmund the Englishman never excelled in scoring feats. In his best season at Borussia, he scored only 8 goals in the Bundesliga. Now, just two months after the start of the season, he has already scored 10 goals in La Liga and three more in the Champions League.
On Saturday, Jude literally took out Barcelona in the away Classico. First, he brought his team back into the game after an incredible shot from 30 meters, and in the end he lay in wait for a chance in someone else’s penalty area. Since 1947, a Real Madrid player has not scored a double in his debut away game against Barça. The reaction of former and current players to Bellingham’s performance is indicative. “This guy is unreal,” wrote Haaland, and Rio Ferdinand even called the Real Madrid midfielder “the new king of football.”
The previous 20 years in football were marked by Messi and Ronaldo, who, among other things, were distinguished by their ability to make a goal out of nothing. In that sense, Bellingham certainly shares similarities with the top stars of the previous generation. Picking up the ball in the center, dragging it to someone else’s penalty area and plopping it right into the corner is no problem for the Birmingham graduate.
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If Bellingham can maintain his current level of play throughout the season, he will have no real competitors in the fight for the Ballon d’Or. Much, as usual, will depend not only on individual performance, but also on the success of the club and the national team. Here Jude has the brightest prospects. Real is now seen as the main favorite in its championship and one of the main contenders for winning the Champions League. The same can be said regarding the England team’s performance at Euro 2024. True, as part of the national team, Bellingham does not yet look as bright as in the club.
Holland needs another super season
The Norwegian could well have won the first Ballon d’Or in his career this year. His first season at Man City was outstanding: Erling Haaland won a treble with his team and was incredibly productive in the Premier League and Champions League.
In total, he scored 52 goals in 53 matches – at one time Messi and Ronaldo took the title with even more modest statistics. If it weren’t for Messi’s performance at the 2022 World Cup, the most prestigious individual award would definitely have gone to the blond forward.
Haaland also started this season most productively: in terms of goals + passes, he is on par with Bellingham (13 + 3). If everything is in order with his health, the Norwegian has the best chance of once again becoming the most productive player in Europe.
The only negative, compared to competitors, is the weak team. Even his talent and another Premier League star, Odegaard, are not enough to drag Norway to at least the final part of the Euro. The last representative of a non-top team to win the Golden Ball was Andrei Shevchenko in 2004.
Haaland can hardly count on a cumulative effect in voting. At one time, as many believed, Sneijder, Iniesta, van Dijk and Lewandowski were unfairly given a ride with ZM, but they never came so close to the award again.
On the one hand, it will be easier for Haaland to qualify for the World Championship at the end of the 2023/24 season, because Messi will no longer win the World Cup. On the other hand, Erling will again need to produce goals and count on winning the Champions League. If one of his main competitors completes this most important achievement, the Norwegian may again be left without a prize.
Playing for PSG hinders Mbappe
Mbappe has always been somewhere close to the Ballon d’Or in recent years, but each time someone more worthy took the award. After winning the 2018 World Cup, Luka Modric was recognized as the best, who also won the Champions League that same year. Then Messi (twice) and Benzema came out on top. Surprisingly, in his entire career, Kilian has never even entered the top 3 according to the voting results.
This will probably happen for the first time this year, but the author of the hat-trick in the World Cup final will still remain behind Messi and Haaland. Mbappe himself probably understands that by staying at PSG, he is unlikely to get to ZM. No one pays attention to victories in the French championship, but in the Champions League there are always better teams.
After Neymar and Messi left Paris, the 24-year-old forward began to breathe easier, and his performance remains at the same high level (12 goals in 12 matches). If Kylian can drag PSG to the Champions League final and reaches the same stage with the national team at the Euro, the dream of the Ballon d’Or will take on real features. Otherwise, in search of a new level of greatness, Mbappe will need to change his club registration.
Kane believes in his victory
Harry Kane made a move this summer that Mbappe has yet to dare to make. The England striker never dreamed of winning the Ballon d’Or at Tottenham, but a move to Bayern changes things. Already at the beginning of the season, Kane set an impressive pace: 14+7 – such statistics cannot be boasted by the other stars on our list.
At the same time, unlike Bellingham, the 30-year-old forward regularly scores not only for the club, but also for the national team: Kane excelled in all English matches this year. Usually the players themselves prefer not to talk about their chances of winning the Ballon d’Or, but Kane is not characterized by such shyness. Harry calmly discusses the prospects of winning the prize in 2024:
“If we get trophies, win the Champions League, if we win the European Championship next year, and I score a lot, then it’s quite possible to get the Golden Ball,” notes the Englishman.
Kane spoke about his dream several years ago. It is clear that this player is serious about the award and will do everything in his power to become the first English player since 2001 to win the prestigious prize.
Source: Sportbox
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.