The 2024 Ballon d’Or 30-men list was released on Wednesday; the final winner will be revealed on Monday, October 28, at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
Vinicius Junior, Dani Carvajal, Jude Bellingham, and Rodri are the favourites to be crowned the winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or.
However, the three pundits and former footballers had picked Manchester United and Spanish midfielder Rodri as their favourites to be crowned the best player in the World on Monday, October 28, at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
Rodri guided Spain to a record four Euros during the summer in England and was adjourned the best player of the tournament. At the club level, Rodri was instrumental in Manchester City winning their fourth consecutive Premier League title and their sixth in seven years. He was on an unbeaten run of 74 matches with Manchester City, ending when Manchester United defeated them in the FA Cup final.
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Who is Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards’s pick to win the Ballon d’Or?
The trio unanimously agreed on The Rest is Football podcast that Rodri deserved to win the Ballon d’Or this year.
Alan Shearer said: “There’s only one player winning it. It can only be him. I think he should win and will win it.”
England legend and Barcelona Gary Lineker added: “I think Rodri deserves it. Obviously, they didn’t win the Champions League at City, but they did win the Premier League and then the Euros with Spain, where he was very much their leader.
“Young player of the year II’vegot a feeling will be Lamine Yamal. He could win that for the next five years!”
Micah Richards also agreed with the two, saying: “If Bellingham had won the Euros with England, he would be a big shout, a big possibility.”
The Full Ballon d’Or Shortlist
- Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid and England)
- Phil Foden (Man City and England)
- Ruben Dias (Man City and Portugal)
- Federico Valverde (Real Madrid and Uruguay)
- Emiliano Martinez (Aston VIlla and Argentina)
- Erling Haaland (Man City and Norway)
- Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao and Spain)
- Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen and Switzerland)
- Artem Dovbik (Roma and Ukraine)
- Toni Kroos (Retired, formerly Real Madrid and Germany)
- Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid and Brazil)
- Martin Odegaard (Arsenal and Norway)
- Dani Olmo (Barcelona and Spain)
- Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen and Germany)
- Mats Hummels (Roma and Germany)
- Rodri (Man City and Spain)
- Declan Rice (Arsenal and England)
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England)
- Cole Palmer (Chelsea and England)
- Vitinha (PSG and Portugal)
- Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid and Spain)
- William Saliba (Arsenal and France)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona and Spain)
- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal and England)
- Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter Milan and Turkey)
- Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid and Germany)
- Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid and France)
- Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan and Argentina)
- Ademola Lookman (Atalanta and Nigeria)
- Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen and Spain)
