Friday, November 8, 2024, 18:26
Rodrigo Hernández won the 2024 Ballon d’Or by only 41 points ahead of Vinicius. The Spanish midfielder from Manchester City obtained 1,170 votes, compared to the 1,129 that the Brazilian forward from Real Madrid achieved, according to what L’Equipe announced this Friday, the day before this sports newspaper and the magazine ‘France Football’ made public the distribution of the votes of 99 journalists from the 100 best FIFA countries.
The Ballon d’Or, surrounded by controversy due to the absence of Real Madrid because Vinicius had not been declared the winner, despite the fact that the white team was recognized as the best club in the world and Carlo Ancelotti as the best coach, was decided by a minimal difference between Rodri and the Brazilian. The first ten footballers selected by each of the journalists received 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point, respectively, and Rodri, the second Spanish player proclaimed the best in the world, 64 years old after Luis Suárez, he won the award by less than fifty votes.
Five journalists did not include Rodri, European champion with Spain, in the ‘top 10’ of the Ballon d’Or awarded on October 28 in Paris, while Vinicius was excluded by only three. Up to seven other players, not counting the Spaniard and the Brazilian, were cited at least once in the first place in the ranking. These are Jude Bellingham (five first places), Dani Carvajal (four), Toni Kroos (two) and Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Lautaro Martínez and Ademola Lookman, who were recognized as number one on one occasion.
Bellingham finished third in the Ballon d’Or voting, ahead of Carvajal and Haaland in a ‘top 5’ that not a single journalist of the 99 who chose the winner was correct (Syria did not vote). However, seven media representatives did agree in the order of the top four, belonging to England, Australia, the United States, Northern Ireland, Norway and Slovakia.
Mbappé finished the Ballon d’Or in sixth place, and Lautaro Martínez (seventh), Lamine Yamal (eighth), Kroos (ninth) and Harry Kane (tenth) closed the ‘top 10’ of the trophy awarded by ‘France Football’.
