Ballon d'Or 2024: Total list of candidates for Men's Ballon d'Or award revealed

The 30-player shortlist for the 2024 Ballon d'Or award has been announced. It is the first time in over two decades that the shortlist doesn't feature either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

Here is the final 30-man shortlist for the 2024 Ballon d'Or:

Antonio Rudiger - Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe - Real Madrid
Lautaro Martinez - Inter Milan
Ademola Lookman - Atalanta
Alejandro Grimaldo - Bayer Leverkusen
Dani Carvajal - Real Madrid
William Saliba - Arsenal
Lamine Yamal - Barcelona
Bukayo Saka - Arsenal
Hakan Calhanoglu - Inter Milan
Rodri - Manchester City
Declan Rice- Arsenal
Harry Kane - Bayern Munich
Cole Palmer - Chelsea
Vitinha - PSG
Vinicius Jr - Real Madrid
Martin Odegaard - Arsenal
Dani Olmo - Barcelona
Florian Wirtz - Bayer Leverkusen
Mats Hummels - Roma
Erling Haaland - Manchester City
Nico Williams - Athletic Bilbao
Granit Xhaka - Bayer Leverkusen
Artem Dovbik - Roma
Toni Kroos - Real Madrid
Jude Bellingham - Real Madrid
Phil Foden - Manchester City
Ruben Dias - Manchester City
Federico Valverde - Real Madrid
Emiliano Martinez - Aston Villa

Reigning European champions Real Madrid have seven representatives in the shortlist, closely followed by Pep Guardiola's City, who have four.

Rodri backed to win the Ballon d'Or

Pundits Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards all threw their weight behind Manchester City midfielder Rodri to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or. The Spanish midfielder won the 2024 Euros with La Roja and was named the best player of the tournament.

On 'The Rest is Football' podcast, the former players unanimously agreed that Rodri should win the individual award.

Richards initially named the 28-year-old as his choice for the 2024 Ballon d'Or award and asked the panel if they agreed with him.

"Quick answer? Rodri! We all agree on Rodri, do we?," said the former Manchester City defender.

Both Shearer and Lineker agreed with Richards' choice. The former England defender even put forward other potential candidates for the award.

"Vinicius Junior, [Jude] Bellingham, if Bellingham would have won the Euros with England, he was a big shout, wasn’t he, a big possibility. It’s hard, isn’t it?" Richards asked.

However, both Shearer and Lineker swatted the other names aside, claiming only Rodri deserves it.

"There’s only one player winning it," Shearer said.

"I think so as well. I really do," agreed Lineker before adding, "I think Rodri deserves it. Obviously, they didn’t win the Champions League, City but they did win the league and the Euros with Spain where he was very much their leader."

The winner for the award will be announced on Monday, October 28.

About the author

Saransh is a European and International Football writer at Sportskeeda and has over 10 years of overall experience. He has a great interest in the sport, having watched and played it as a kid, and later at national level.

Saransh supports Liverpool as he finds similarity between himself and the ethos of the club’s supporters. He also admires Jurgen Klopp for his philosophy on life and football. In terms of players, he is, unsurprisingly, a big fan of Steven Gerrard and Lionel Messi for their playing style and ability to influence games single-handedly.

Siphiwe Tshabalala’s goal for hosts South Africa at the 2010 World Cup, Fabio Grosso’s 119th-minute goal for Italy in their win over Germany in 2006 World Cup semi-final, and Ronaldo Nazario’s performance at the 2002 World Cup are some moments that left a lasting impact on Saransh.

He pays great attention to detail and ensures proper research and fact-checking to ensure complete accuracy in his articles. His exploits in the industry have led to interview many top European footballers over the years like John Barnes, Robbie Fowler and Shay Given over the years. He also follows the ISL to stay in touch with Indian football.

When not working, Saransh enjoys watching sports other than cricket.

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Edited by Arshit Garg