BALLON D'OR
Ademola Lookman is number 14 in Ballon d’Or ranking
Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman has been ranked number 14 at the Ballon’ d’Or currently going on at the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris, France.
He is the only African to make the 30-player shortlist for the 2024 Ballon d’Or prize.
He is the second Nigerian to be nominated for the prize in two years.
With his position, he ranked better than some other top players.
Ballon d’Or, positions 30-11
- =29. Mats Hummels, Artem Dovbyk
- 28. Alejandro Grimaldo
- 27. Vitinha
- 26. Declan Rice
- 25. Cole Palmer
- 24. William Saliba
- 23. Ruben Dias
- 22. Antonio Rudiger
- 21. Bukayo Saka
- 20. Hakan Calhanoglu
- 19. Martin Odegaard
- 18. Emiliano Martinez
- 17. Federico Valverde
- 16. Granit Xhaka
- 15. Nico Williams
- 14. Ademola Lookman
- 13. Dani Olmo
- 12. Florian Wirtz
- 11. Phil Foden
Rodri has been crowned the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner after an extraordinary year in which he helped Manchester City secure the Premier League title and played a pivotal role in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph.
The trophy was presented to him by former Liberia president and the only African to have won the award, George Weah.
Despite being on crutches due to a recent ACL injury, Rodri was helped on stage by Didier Drogba to receive the prestigious award. The Manchester City midfielder looked visibly emotional as he lifted the Ballon d’Or trophy, capping off an unforgettable year in his career.
Just hours to the 2024 Ballon d’Or, it is almost certain that initial favourite, Vinicius Jr, the Brazilian star of the Real Madrid will not be the winner.
Consequently, he along with his club members will not be attending the event tonight in Paris.
The pendulum swings mostly in Manchester City’s Rodri’s favour.
Real Madrid have cancelled their delegation’s plans to attend the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris on Monday at the last minute as the club understand that their Brazil forward Vinicius Jr will not win the award, soccer sources told Reuters.
Bookmakers had 24-year-old Vinicius Jr, the Champions League player of the year, as the heavy odds-on favourite to claim his first Ballon d’Or, which is presented to the best player in the world, ahead of Manchester City’s Spain midfielder Rodri, 28, and Real’s England international Jude Bellingham.
Vinicius Jr helped Real to a Champions League-LaLiga double last term along with 21-year-old Bellingham, who was named LaLiga MVP after scoring a career best 19 goals in a sparkling debut campaign and helping England reach the Euro 2024 final.
Rodri, who City manager Pep Guardiola has called “the best midfielder in the world”, was instrumental in helping his team win an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League trophy last season and was named best player at this year’s European Championship after Spain lifted a record-extending fourth title.
Real and France Football, which organises the Ballon d’Or awards, were not immediately available to comment.
The awards are based on voting by a panel of journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked countries.
-Reuters
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