The Ballon d’Or. Love it or loathe it, it’s the award every footballer in the world dreams of one day winning. And now, after a memorable 2023-24 campaign, the winner of the 2024 Golden Ball has been announced: Rodri.
The Manchester City and Spain midfielder has emerged as the finest No.6 in world football over the past couple of seasons, and he was key to City winning a record-breaking, fourth-successive Premier League title before he then won Player of the Tournament at Euro 2024 as La Roja triumphed in Germany.
As well as his ability to shield the defence and maintain possession in the middle of the park, Rodri has taken his game to a new level by providing more in attack. He returned 12 goals and 15 assists for club and country over the course of the season, while he only finished on the losing side once inside 90 minutes, that coming when City were beaten in the FA Cup final.
The 28-year-old faced tough competition for his first Ballon d’Or as he beat off competition from Real Madrid duo Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham, who finished second and third, respectively, after playing key roles in Los Blancos winning both La Liga and the Champions League.
That trio were up at the very top of the rankings for 2024, but how did the rest of the 30-man shortlist shake out when all the votes were counted? Check out the official rankings below:
=29. Artem Dovbyk (Roma)
No one would ever have predicted that Girona would finish in La Liga’s top three and threaten to crash the Clasico party between Real Madrid and Barcelona in the battle for first and second places. They put up an incredible fight and Ukrainian forward Dovbyk was vital, scoring 24 times to beat Jude Bellingham, Robert Lewandowski and Alexander Sorloth to the top scorer award before joining Roma over the summer.
=29. Mats Hummels (Roma)
The German defender showed that, at 35, he still has plenty to offer at the highest level. He played every minute of Borussia Dortmund’s journey to the Champions League final, and scored the vital semi-final second-leg goal to beat Paris Saint-Germain and set up the clash against Real Madrid. Amazingly, he ended up leaving the club on a free transfer before joining Roma in September.
28. Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen)
A year ago, the 28-year-old left-back would never have imagined he would be on this list. But few would argue against his place in the top 30 after his amazing 10 goals and 13 Bundesliga assists as Bayer Leverkusen sealed their first ever title. He was also part of the triumphant Spain squad at the Euros.
27. Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain)
The Portuguese midfielder played a vital supporting role for the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Randal Kolo Muani as Paris Saint-Germain sealed another Ligue 1 title and made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
26. Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Rice has been on an unstoppable rise since breaking into the Premier League. He showed he was worth the huge amount of money Arsenal splashed out on him to bring him in from West Ham, scoring seven goals and making eight assists in the league. He made 51 appearances at club level and hardly slowed down as he played every minute of England’s Euro 2024 campaign.
25. Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
‘Ice Cold’ Palmer was undeniably magnificent for Chelsea last season. Without the attacking midfielder and his 22 goals and 11 assists, the Blues would have endured a much more miserable season. England, too, may have been beaten much earlier in the Euros final against Spain.
