10. Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo’s 5th Golden Ball in 2017 is almost certainly the last Golden Ball that the Portuguese superstar can win. The 39-year-old has scored more than 40 goals in the 2023-24 season and is still among the top scorers in world football. But Ronaldo only plays in the Saudi Pro League.
Opportunity will come to CR7 if he leads Portugal to win the European Championship for the second time. The former Real Madrid star scored 10 goals in qualifying, second behind Romelu Lukaku, and he remains the leader of a promising Portuguese team.
9. Mats Hummels At the age of 35, Mats Hummels is in great form and is in the top 10 best players in the world in 2024 ranked by Planetfootball. The German international helped Dortmund keep clean sheets in both matches in Dortmund’s dramatic victory over PSG in the Champions League semi-finals. He even scored the winning goal in Paris.
If Dortmund can beat Real Madrid at Wembley, and Germany progress in EURO 2024, Hummels could become the first centre-back to win the Ballon d’Or since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.
8. Erling Haaland
The Golden Ball has not belonged to a Premier League player since Ronaldo in 2008. The opportunity came to Haaland last year, when he scored continuously to help Man City win the treble. But the Norwegian star did not can surpass superstar Lionel Messi with his World Cup achievements.
This season, Haaland has been in decline. Man City was also eliminated in the Champions League. Even recently, Haaland was compared to a League Two player by Roy Keane. However, the former Dortmund player can still end the 2023-24 season with a domestic double and the Premier League Golden Boot for the second time in a row.
7. Harry Kane
This is Kane’s best scoring season ever. However, that was not enough to give him a noble title. Kane has dropped 4 places on the list voted by PlanetFootball. The former Tottenham captain needs to help England win glory at EURO this summer to hope to win the Golden Ball this year.
6. Rodri
It is clear that Rodri is the best player in his position. Not only important to Man City, this midfielder is also an outstanding individual in Spain. Looking forward to EURO 2024, a lot of the bullfighting team’s hopes rest on his shoulders.
5. Lionel Messi
David Beckham, Gareth Bale, David Villa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic ‘grow old’ in Major League Soccer. But Messi is not. He is still shining there. But the Argentine superstar’s ability to win the title will be evaluated at Copa America with La Albiceleste.
4. Xabi Alonso’s Florian Wirtz Bayer Leverkusen surpassed Bayern Munich to win the Bundesliga championship. It is now May and they are still unbeaten in all competitions. It was a team effort, but the person who stood out the most was none other than the prodigy Wirtz. This 20-year-old player is also the hope of the German national team at EURO 2024.
3. Kylian Mbappe
By the time the Ballon d’Or vote comes around at the end of the year, Mbappe will almost certainly be a Madrid player. He just won another Ligue 1 title, and is about to have the Coupe de France final with Lyon. But PSG’s treble dream was dashed in the Champions League defeat to Dortmund. Mbappe’s failure to score in both matches was a blow to his hopes of winning his first Golden Ball.
2. Jude Bellingham
Bellingham made an immediate impact in his first season at Real Madrid. The Three Lions star is the player who scores the most goals for Los Blancos in La Liga. He is also the hope of the White Vultures in the Champions League final as well as the England team in EURO 2024.
1. Vinicius Junior
Vinicius has not been in impressive form in the first half of the 2023-24 campaign like Bellingham. But towards the end of the season, the Brazilian star exploded even more. He had 2 assists in the first leg against Man City. He scored 2 goals and won the Player of the Match award at Bayern Munich. In the second leg, although Joselu scored a double, Vinicius was the best player on the field, tormenting Joshua Kimmich with a brilliant performance – in stark contrast to the relatively lackluster performance. of Mbappe against Dortmund.