Also the former Inter number 10 Wesley Sneijder enters the Golden Ball debate. The 40-year-old Dutchman, faced with Rodri’s award ceremony, wanted to show understanding for Vinicius Junior’s second place. Precisely the former Nerazzurri attacking midfielder who certainly hasn’t forgotten the disappointment of missing the Ballon d’Or in the sensational year of the Treble, 2010.
On the sidelines of the ESports World Cup in Riyadh, Sneijder made the following statements on the matter: “Yes, they stole the Ballon d’Or from me in 2010. But honestly: I’m happy that people are still talking about it in 2024, 14 years afterwards people say to me: ‘Wesley, they robbed you that year’. Imagine if I had won the Ballon d’Or and people said: ‘He took it from someone’.” He concluded: “Individual awards are nice. But successes with the team such as lifting the Champions League trophy were more precious to me than getting the Ballon d’Or.”
The final ranking of the 2024 Ballon d’Or
Rodri (SPA, 28 years old, Manchester City)
Vinicius (BRA, 24 years old, Real Madrid)
Jude Bellingham (ENG, 21 years old, Real Madrid)
Dani Carvajal (SPA, 32 years old, Real Madrid)
Erling Haaland (NOR, 24 years old, Manchester City)
Kylian Mbappé (FRA, 25 years old, PSG/Real Madrid)
Lautaro Martinez (ARG, 27 years old, Inter)
Lamine Yamal (ESP, 17 years old, Barcelona)
Toni Kroos (GER, 34 years old, Real Madrid)
Harry Kane (ENG, 31 years old, Bayern Munich)
Phil Foden (ENG, 24 years old, Manchester City)
Florian Wirtz (GER, 21 years old, Bayer Leverkusen)
Dani Olmo (SPA, 26 years old, Leipzig/Barcelona)
Ademola Lookman (NIG, 27 years old, Atalanta)
Nico Williams (SPA, 22 years old, Athletic Club)
Granit Xhaka (CH, 32 years old, Bayer Leverkusen)
Federico Valverde (URU, 26 years old, Real Madrid)
Emiliano Martinez (ARG, 32 years old, Aston Villa)
Martin Odegaard (DAN, 25 years old, Arsenal)
Hakan Calhanoglu (TUR, 30 years old, Inter)
Bukayo Saka (ENG, 22 years old, Arsenal)
Antonio Rudiger (GER, 31 years old, Real Madrid)
Ruben Dias (POR, 27 years old, Manchester City)
William Saliba (FRA, 23 years old, Arsenal)
Cole Palmer (ENG, 22 years old, Manchester City/Chelsea)
Declan Rice (ENG, 25 years old, Arsenal)
Vitinha (POR, 24 years old, Paris-SG)
Alejandro Grimaldo (SPA, 28 years old, Bayer Leverkusen)
Mats Hummels (GER, 35 years old, Borussia Dortmund/Roma) and Artem Dovbyk (UKR, 27 years old, SK Dnipro-1/Girona/Roma)