Ballon d’Or 2024 Summary – Big Winners And Key Points

The 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony took place on Monday, October 28, in Paris. The 68th edition of the prestigious awards was held at the Théâtre du Châtelet, where Man City’s Rodri emerged as the big winner!

How The Winners Are Decided

For Player of the Year, journalists representing the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings vote for their top ten players from a 30-player shortlist, selected by the editorial staff of France Football and L’Équipe. A points system determines the rankings, with the editor-in-chief of France Football acting as the tiebreaker if needed.

The Kopa Trophy, Yashin Trophy, and Johan Cruyff Trophy are also decided primarily by journalists, with a select group of other votes. No public or player voting is involved.

List of Men’s Winners In Full

Men’s Ballon d’Or (Best Player): Rodri (Spain & Man City)

Johan Cruyff Trophy (Coach of the Year): Carlo Ancelotti (Italy & Real Madrid)

Kopa Trophy (Best Young Player): Lamine Yamal (Spain & Barcelona)

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper): Emiliano Martínez (Argentina & Aston Villa)

Club of the Year: Real Madrid (Spain)

Gerd Müller Trophy (Top Scorer, Club & Country): Harry Kane (England & Bayern Munich) & Kylian Mbappé (France & PSG/Real Madrid)

Men’s Ballon d’Or

Rodri claimed the top award after a stellar season, winning both the Premier League title with Man City and Euro 2024 with Spain. The former Atlético Madrid midfielder played an impressive 63 matches for City and Spain, scoring 12 goals and providing 15 assists, even as a defensive midfielder.

Rodri’s influence was evident whenever he was on the pitch: Man City scored 2.7 goals per game and conceded just 0.9. In his absence, scoring dropped to 1.4 goals per game, with goals conceded rising to 1.3 per game.

Top Ten Players List:

Rodri (Spain & Man City)
Vinícius Júnior (Brazil & Real Madrid)
Jude Bellingham (England & Real Madrid)
Dani Carvajal (Spain & Real Madrid)
Erling Haaland (Norway & Man City)
Kylian Mbappé (France & PSG/Real Madrid)
Lautaro Martínez (Argentina & Inter)
Lamine Yamal (Spain & Barcelona)
Toni Kroos (Germany & Real Madrid)
Harry Kane (England & Bayern Munich)

Men’s Johan Cruyff Trophy (Coach of the Year)

Carlo Ancelotti received this award after leading Real Madrid to both the Champions League and La Liga titles. Instead of a video acceptance speech, Ancelotti took to Instagram to thank his family, President, club, players, and especially Vinícius and Carvajal.

Real Madrid’s delegation boycotted the awards in protest over one of their players not winning the main award.

Ronwen Williams Misses Out

South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, known for his penalty-saving heroics for Bafana Bafana at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations and a remarkable club season, was overlooked for the Yashin Trophy. Despite saving four penalties in the quarter-finals against Cape Verde and keeping 35 clean sheets in 59 matches overall, he lost out to Emi Martínez in this category. Williams made history as the first goalkeeper nominated for the award while playing for an African club.