UPDATE: As per an early leak online, Luka Modric has been declared winner of the 2018 Ballon D’Or award, ending a 10-year dominance by Ronaldo and Messi. Ronaldo finished 2nd in points while Messi ended 5th. Both were not near Modric, who accumulated over 700 points.
They say it’s international football’s most prestigious award, is the Ballon D’Or. However, it has been less of an award eligible for professional footballers across the world, and more of a decade of duopoly by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. While they are undoubtedly the best footballers in the world, the Ballon D’Or ceremony has become quite a bore since the last 10 years, as it’s either one who wins it from over hundreds of nominees and 30 shortlisted heroes at the end.
The 2018 Ballon D’Or comes near and this is the first time in a decade that we smell the chance of a new winner being crowned, with Messi and Ronaldo still being favourites, but Croatia’s Luka Modric seeming to be a strong contender as well. It was 2007 when the last Ballon D’Or inner was crowned who wasn’t Ronaldo or Messi – Brazil’s Kaká.
Messi won the award thrice in succession and Ronaldo won it twice in succession on two different occasions, while also being the defending champion of the coveted trophy, which is every footballer’s dream. For Ronaldo, it was another prolific year, winning another Champions League title before switching to Juventus, where he broke records immediately.
As for Leo Messi, it was another high goal-scoring season for the Argentine, but one thing both didn’t manage was getting a strong hold on the 2018 World Cup, which Modric was pretty successful in doing, helping his team reach as far as the final of the major FIFA world tournament. That is one of the biggest reasons we believe Modric could end victorious from the three.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently said, “You could give the Ballon d’Or to half the France team for what they did at the World Cup.” From this, we know that a lot of importance will be given to performances for your country over your club. 6 men from the winning French squad of the World Cup are in the 30-man nominee list for the 2018 Ballon D’Or awards. Check out last year’s nominations:
Now read this year’s list of 30 nominees:
- Sergio Aguero (Man City)
- Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
- Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
- Isco (Real Madrid)
- Harry Kane (Tottenham)
- N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
- Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
- Mario Mandzukic (Juventus)
- Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
- Marcelo (Real Madrid)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
- Edinson Cavani (PSG)
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
- Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
- Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid)
- Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
- Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
- Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
- Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- Neymar (PSG)
- Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
- Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
- Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona)
- Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
- Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
Can any one of these players end a 10-year dominance held by Ronaldo and Messi? This seems to be the year. Or will Ronaldo complete the hat-trick and become the first man ever to win the award on 6 different occasions? Watch the event live at 2:30am IST to know the result. This year will also mark the first ever edition of the female Ballon D’Or award, where 15 nominees have been named. Keep watching ReadScoops.com for similar football updates from around the world.
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