Real Madrid had a very successful last season in which they once again won both the La Liga and the UEFA Champions League titles. Several Merengue players contributed to this success for the club, and thus, there are multiple Real Madrid players in the running for the upcoming Balon d’Or award.
This is the highest individual football award and will be awarded jointly by France Football and FIFA on 28th October at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the list of candidates to win this award has already been published, and there are up to six Real Madrid players named in this list. These players include Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, and Antonio Rudiger.
Thus, Los Blancos have absolutely dominated this list of candidates, but the player most favourite to win the award this time is Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian was pivotal in his team’s success in La Liga and the Champions League last season as he scored 24 goals and gave 11 assists in 39 total appearances. He was also named the Best Player for the last edition of the UEFA Champions League.
His main competitor for the Balon d’Or will be the Manchester City midfielder Rodrigo. The Spaniard won the Premier League title with the Citizens and also won the UEFA EURO 2024 with Spain in the summer. He was also the MVP for this latter international competition.
From the Real Madrid squad, another likely winner for this award could be Jude Bellingham, who had an unforgettable first season at the Spanish club. He scored 23 goals and gave 13 assists in his 42 appearances with the club.
Similarly, Carvajal also won three big trophies in the last year, including La Liga and UCL with Real Madrid and the UEFA EURO 2024 with Spain, and thus is a natural competitor for this award. Other players like Federico Valverde, Toni Kroos, and Antonio Rudiger were also key for Real Madrid and have been named in this list.
Kylian Mbappe, who joined the white club last summer, is also one of the candidates for this award for his performances with PSG and French national team.
