How did Rodri win the 68th Ballon d’Or in history? After the publication of the complete ranking for the 2024 edition on Friday, in which we can see the very close duel between the midfielder and Vinicius Junior, second at only 41 points, the details of the votes country by country were revealed this Saturday by France Football.
As a reminder, the jury which elects the Ballon d’Or is made up of 100 journalists, each representing a country, those which are ranked between first and 100th place in the FIFA rankings. Each of them draws up a list of ten players and the one who comes first is awarded 15 points, the second 12, then 10 points, 8, and so on until one point for the tenth.
For example, the journalist who represents France, namely the editor-in-chief of France Football Vincent Garcia, chose Vinicius in first place, ahead of Rodri and Jude Bellingham. Sixth in the total ranking, Kylian Mbappé was ranked in fourth place by the French journalist. Moreover, Real Madrid number 9 appears 77 times in the top 10 of voting journalists.
The other Frenchman eligible for the Ballon d’Or this year, defender William Saliba, is mentioned four times in total, in the votes of Finnish, Iraqi, Uzbek and Palestinian journalists. Enough to allow him to grab 24th place with eight points.
As for the duel between Rodri and Vinicius, the Spaniard’s victory is largely explained by the fact that 49 journalists, or almost half, placed him at the top of their ranking. Opposite, the Real Madrid striker is in first place in 35 rankings, including that of his country, Brazil. Spanish journalist Alfredo Relano, who works for AS, El Pais and Cadena Ser, also voted for Vinicius, placing his compatriot in second place.
Some rankings may also surprise, such as that of the Nigerian Samm Audu, who voted for his country’s striker Ademola Lookman, ahead of Vinicius and Bellingham, or that of Sergio DuFour, of Trinidad and Tobago, for whom the Argentinian goalkeeper Lautaro Martinez deserved the Ballon d’Or.
