Ballon d’Or 2024 — post-Messi era

Red Star One

Full Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2017
Messages
6,299
Location
Barcelona
The 2024 Ballon d'Or gala will be held on Monday, October 28th, so there’s still plenty of time, but with the season over we can wonder who takes the highest individual accolade now that Messi should no longer be in the discussion.
According to the bookies, the early front runners are Vinicius and Bellingham, followed by Kroos, Mbappe, Kane, Foden and Wirtz. Obviously a lot will depend on who wins and who shows some magic during the Euros and Copa America.
Who will win? Can we expect any of these players to go on and grab a couple of Ballon d’Or now that the extraterrestrials are almost retired?
 
Imagine thinking that Messi is not winning this Ballon d'Or after leading Argentina to a Copa win. Some people never learn....
 
Taribo's Gap said:
Imagine thinking that Messi is not winning this Ballon d'Or after leading Argentina to a Copa win. Some people never learn....
Click to expand...
Even if they win Copa and Messi shows some magic I really don’t think they’ll give it to him this time around
 
Watch them gift it to Messi for his MLS performances and a Copa final! :lol:


If England do well in the Euros, it might just be Bellingham's year.
 
If Brazil win Copa America, Vinicius is a shout, and of course Bellingham if England win Euros. Both excellent players but probably not quite ballon dor level of previous winners yet

Tournaments can still sway these things as we saw with Messi and the world cup, so wouldn't be surprised to see Mbappe win it if he does well and france win euros for example. Even a wild card like Rodri should he be instrumental in a surprise Spain win.
 
Last edited:
It's gonna be a lot more interesting now at least.

I think more midfielders are gonna win it from now on, although Vini and Mbappe could very much continue the legacy of technical wingers/wide forwards who scores for fun.
 
Last edited:
England win Euros = Bellingham
France win Euros = Mbappe
Germany win Euros = Kroos
Brazil win Copa = Vinicius

None of the above happens then it would depend on who does the best out of the above.
 
If Messi wins Copa and MLS with great performances he deserves it regardless of what the others do. Messi is the best full stop.

Otherwise it's Vini, good enough to win it now but especially if he carries Brazils and wins Copa.

Mbappe if he wins euro or France.

Wirtz or Kroos if one starts in euro for Germany.

Kane or Bellingham depending on who carries and wins euro for England.

Don't see who else should be in the conversation.
 
I'm surprised people think Wirtz will win it if Germany wins. Unless he has an amazing individual tournament, I can easily the narrative being built for Kroos to win given that Real won the UCL and La Liga this season.
 
JogaBonitoRooney said:
If Messi wins Copa and MLS with great performances he deserves it regardless of what the others do. Messi is the best full stop.

Otherwise it's Vini, good enough to win it now but especially if he carries Brazils and wins Copa.

Mbappe if he wins euro or France.

Wirtz if he wins euro for Germany.

Kane or Bellingham depending on who carries and wins euro for England.

Don't see who else should be in the conversation.
Click to expand...

Wait, I was joking in my post. Are you being serious?
 
Looking at the betting it’s a 2 horse race between Vinicius and Bellingham
 
hasanejaz88 said:
I'm surprised people think Wirtz will win it if Germany wins. Unless he has an amazing individual tournament, I can easily the narrative being built for Kroos to win given that Real won the UCL and La Liga this season.
Click to expand...
Yeah I think that awarding Kroos for his career would be quite nice and very much in the spirit of the award, so if he and Germany perform in the Euros he’s my favorite
 
hasanejaz88 said:
I'm surprised people think Wirtz will win it if Germany wins. Unless he has an amazing individual tournament, I can easily the narrative being built for Kroos to win given that Real won the UCL and La Liga this season.
Click to expand...

Choking the EL final while Real won the CL has more or less erased Wirtz' chance of winning the Ballon d'Or. He would have to completely outshine Kroos in a German EC victory to make it. Even then it could still go to Vinicius if Brazil wins the Copa.
 
I hate the suggestion that Kroos can win this if Germany wins the Euro. Not as ridiculous as Jorginho propaganda couple years ago, but still... would be criminal.
 
demetre said:
I hate the suggestion that Kroos can win this if Germany wins the Euro. Not as ridiculous as Jorginho propaganda couple years ago, but still... would be criminal.
Click to expand...

Why would it be ridiculous? He has had an excellent season, individually as well as collectively.
 
If either Vinicius or Messi win the Euros, they'll get the Ballon d'Or 100%
 
Last edited:
demetre said:
I hate the suggestion that Kroos can win this if Germany wins the Euro. Not as ridiculous as Jorginho propaganda couple years ago, but still... would be criminal.
Click to expand...

Would be funny when the current holder of the ballon d'or is actually a retired player. Even funnier than the current holder playing in the United States
 
hasanejaz88 said:
England win Euros = Bellingham
France win Euros = Mbappe
Germany win Euros = Kroos
Brazil win Copa = Vinicius

None of the above happens then it would depend on who does the best out of the above.
Click to expand...

What if two of the above win? Mbappe and Vini share the Ballon?
 
Can you imagine Ronaldo's reaction if Messi were to win it again.
 
Morty_ said:
Why would it be ridiculous? He has had an excellent season, individually as well as collectively.
Click to expand...

Was he better than Bellingham or Vinicius? Was he even better than Rudiger or Valverde? I'm not even talking about the other teams. Team success should matter, but only if you are a stand out player in your team, which he's definitely not. And also the fact that it's not even his best season... it just doesn't feel right.
 
Stadjer said:
Would be funny when the current holder of the ballon d'or is actually a retired player. Even funnier than the current holder playing in the United States
Click to expand...

It would be like Giggs winning that 2009 PFA Player of the year award. Cool story, but no need to make the award even more pointless than it already is
 
Stadjer said:
What if two of the above win? Mbappe and Vini share the Ballon?
Click to expand...

I meant to say the mentioned go above the others, I think if Mbappe wins the Euros he will win the Balon D'Or regardless of whether Vini wins Copa. Euros are simply held in higher regard than the Copa.
 
demetre said:
Was he better than Bellingham or Vinicius? Was he even better than Rudiger or Valverde? I'm not even talking about the other teams. Team success should matter, but only if you are a stand out player in your team, which he's definitely not. And also the fact that it's not even his best season... it just doesn't feel right.
Click to expand...

Can well argue he has been on par with the others, yes.

So, if he has a good Euros, i don't see anything wrong with him winning it.
 
If Argentina wins the Copa America I can totally see Messi in the running. Lot's of vested interests want "socca!" to have more impact and what better than having the 'mvp' playing in Miami.
 
TenonTen said:
Watch them gift it to Messi for his MLS performances and a Copa final! :lol:


If England do well in the Euros, it might just be Bellingham's year.
Click to expand...
Bellingham is too average for this award.
hasanejaz88 said:
England win Euros = Bellingham
France win Euros = Mbappe
Germany win Euros = Kroos
Brazil win Copa = Vinicius

None of the above happens then it would depend on who does the best out of the above.
Click to expand...
Argentina win copa with Messi at an extraordinary level??
 
Morty_ said:
Can well argue he has been on par with the others, yes.

So, if he has a good Euros, i don't see anything wrong with him winning it.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I'm not buying it. I think you're being disingenuous. Bellingham won La Liga player of the year, Vinicius was clearly the stand out for you lot in CL.

He needs to have an EXCEPTIONAL Euro to be considered. We need to award players who had the best individual seasons not someone who was top-5 player for teams, who happened to win the knockout tournaments.
 
all depends on who wins the Euros doesn't it

if it's England, then it's obviously Bellinghams. If Germany, then it's Kroos.

if neither of those win it's gonna be a lot more open in the betting. If France, Spain or someone else wins and there is a stand-out performer, then I'd go with them.

For Messi to be in contention he needs the Copa and for all the obvious euros contenders to flop, I think
 
demetre said:
Sorry, I'm not buying it. I think you're being disingenuous. Bellingham won La Liga player of the year, Vinicius was clearly the stand out for you lot in CL.

He needs to have an EXCEPTIONAL Euro to be considered. We need to award players who had the best individual seasons not someone who was top-5 player for teams, who happened to win the knockout tournaments.
Click to expand...

If you ask me, I'd say Vinicius has been the best overall, and i would give the Ballon Dor to him, but we all know international football always takes priority.

Its just how Ballon Dor works, and I don't see that changing.
 
For Messi to win, below needs to happen simultaneously which is very unlikely:

-- Messi having an incredible Copa winning it against Vinicius, the current Ballon D'or favorite but serial underperformer for Brazil bottling it. If Brazil is the finalist, Messi needs to have a "superior" performance over him, kind of in a humiliating fashion which is not likely. If that final happens, all eyes will be on those two, current Ballon D'or favorite and the GOAT.

-- France losing.. or France winning but someone else other than Mbappe leading the team as the main guy like Griezmann.

--England/Germany bottling it.

Even that might not be enough for Messi to win assuming a non-usual suspect shows great performance and wins Euros for his nation.
 
Last edited:
Alpha 1 said:
Bellingham is too average for this award.

Argentina win copa with Messi at an extraordinary level??
Click to expand...
Agreed. A bunch of goals in the farmers league ain't gonna cut it, even if theyre from midfield. It was a good season, not an epic one.
 
heraklion said:
For Messi to win, below needs to happen simultaneously which is very unlikely:

-- Messi having an incredible Copa winning it against Vinicius, the current Ballon D'or favorite but serial underperformer for Brazil bottling it. If Brazil is the finalist, Messi needs to have a "superior" performance over him, kind of in a humiliating fashion which is not likely. If that final happens, all eyes will be on those two, current Ballon D'or favorite and the GOAT.

-- France losing.. or France winning but someone else other than Mbappe leading the team as the main guy like Griezmann.

--England/Germany bottling it.

Even that might not be enough for Messi to win assuming a non-usual suspect shows great performance and wins Euros for his nation.
Click to expand...
Messi shouldn't be near it, even with a dominant individual performance and copa win. I could understand winning the World Cup coupled with his individual tournament, yeah...but not the Copa. Needs to be playing in Europes big leagues, IMO. And this coming from a big Messi fan over the past couple of decades.
 
Ish said:
Messi shouldn't be near it, even with a dominant individual performance and copa win. I could understand winning the World Cup coupled with his individual tournament, yeah...but not the Copa. Needs to be playing in Europes big leagues, IMO. And this coming from a big Messi fan over the past couple of decades.
Click to expand...

You're repeating the same thing I've said, even a dominant Copa win may not be enough, because, simultaneously, Mbappe, Kane, Bellingham, Vinicius, Kroos etc. should all underperform in Euros/Copa which has like 0.1% likelihood of happening.
 
heraklion said:
You're repeating the same thing I've said, even a dominant Copa win may not be enough, because, simultaneously, Mbappe, Kane, Bellingham, Vinicius, Kroos etc. should all underperform in Euros/Copa which has like 0.1% likelihood of happening.
Click to expand...
I think even if they all underperform (and he performs), Messi still won't get it - just an opinion. It'll then either go to a Madrid player anyway or possibly say someone left field (like Foden) has an exceptional Euros - they'll be in it ahead of Messi as well.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't see them giving this award to anyone not playing in Europe - unless there was a Messi like performance at a WC (and even then, Messi was playing in Europe over the award period anyway, iirc). Interesting times though - with no Messi/Ronaldo around :lol:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.