A list purporting to show the top 12 finishers in the 2024 men’s Ballon d’Or has gone viral before Monday night’s official ceremony in Paris.
The unconfirmed but widely-shared list shows Vinicius Junior top of the standings with 630 points, which is significantly more than Lionel Messi won with in 2023, but not as much as Messi in 2019 (686), Luka Modric in 2018 (753) or Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017 (946).
If accurate, Manchester City midfielder Rodri has finished second with 576 points, with Jude Bellingham in third on 422.
Ballon d’Or votes are cast in advance of the ceremony and rumours started circulating in September that Vinicius was aware he’d won, although he hasn’t been officially told.
L’Equipe has reported this is the first time that the winner doesn’t formally know the outcome prior to the ceremony, with no interview or photoshoot conducted in advance as has been the case in the past.
However, the alleged top 12, according to the leaked list, in this year’s vote are as follows:
- Vinicius Junior, 630 points
- Rodri, 576 points
- Jude Bellingham,422 points
- Kylian Mbappe, 317 points
- Harry Kane, 201 points
- Erling Haaland, 195 points
- Lamine Yamal, 128 points
- Phil Foden, 29 points
- Dani Olmo, 25 points
- Florian Wirtz, 24 points
- Dani Carvajal, 17 points
- Antonio Rudiger, unknown
Did You Know?
Vinicius, who was instrumental in Real Madrid winning both la Liga and the Champions League last season, stands to be the first Ballon d’Or winner born in the 21st century.
The men’s award has bizarrely never been won by someone born in the 1990s, due to the long-term dominance of Cristiano Ronaldo (1985) and Lionel Messi (1987).
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However, the Ballon d’Or trophy will be presented at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on Monday night, along with the Feminin prize, for which Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati is the favourite, and subsidiary accolades, including the Kopa Trophy, Yachine Trophy and new coaching gongs.
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