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What's the story?
Ahead of the Ballon d'Or ceremony next week, a report which includes the list of the most deserving winners of the coveted award based on their achievements in 2018 has emerged.
In case you didn't know...
The months-long wait for the announcement of the winner of the Ballon d'Or and the heated debates that came with it is finally nearing its end.
The release of France Football's thirty-man shortlist for the award has prompted football fans across the globe to make predictions for this year's Ballon d'Or.
It is popular belief that this will be the year a new player will finally break the Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi duopoly over the award. The player tipped to do the unthinkable is Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric.
Following his exploits with Croatia in the FIFA World Cup and his title-winning journey in the Champions League, the midfielder won the UEFA Best Player of the Year award as well as The Best FIFA Men's Player Award.
He is now being viewed as the next Ballon d'Or winner by many, with reports even claiming that he will indeed walk away with the prize, with Ronaldo finishing in second place, and Antoine Griezmann in the third spot.
The heart of the matter
As reported by 90min, a research from LeoVegas has revealed the top ten list of most deserving players for the award based on their achievements during the year.
The research is based on the players' trophies for club and country and their individual prizes. For instance, a player gets four points for winning the World Cup and three points for winning the Champions League or a domestic league.
According to the research, Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe has emerged as the player who is the most deserving of the award with 12 points in total.
The Frenchman is followed by Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann with 9 points and Real Madrid midfielder Modric with 8 points.
The rest of the list includes Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Rakitic, Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez and Raphael Varane with seven points each.They are followed by Neymar and Lionel Messi with six points.
While Messi made it to the top ten, Cristiano Ronaldo is absent from the list.
What's next?
The Ballon d'Or ceremony will take place on Monday, December 3 in Paris.
