Who will succeed Lionel Messi in the Ballon d’Or? We’ll have to wait until October to find out. However, we don’t have to wait too long to find out which footballers won’t have the chance to apply for the award this year.
France Football, which organizes this competition in association with FIFA, has just announced that the list of nominees will be revealed next Wednesday. It includes 30 names. It was the editors of the famous monthly who agreed on their identity, following a consultation. It is now up to the juries (belonging to the first 100 countries in the FIFA ranking) to define a top 5.
Vinicius Jr favourite for the Ballon d’Or
The big favourite for the title this year is obviously Vinicius Jr. Even though he had a complicated Copa America with Brazil, the talented winger has taken a lead over the competition. His exploits with Real Madrid during the past campaign clearly speak in his favour. The player himself has made no secret of the fact that he is aiming for the title.
Besides Vinicius, other players can believe in a consecration. We are mainly thinking of Rodri, the great architect of Spain’s victory at the Euro and still in good shape with Manchester City, or Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid’s jack-of-all-trades. As for the French, there should be a few of them on this list, like Mbappé, but it is hard to see any of them aiming for first place.
