Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr. are currently the front-runners for the Ballon d’Or, as Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane are out of the Champions League.
10) Erling Haaland
A million goals scored and a triple crown with Manchester City were insufficient to secure the 2023 trophy. Considering that City is eliminated from the Champions League and Norway will miss the Euros, there isn’t much of a chance this time around.
9) Lionel Messi
A player from Inter Miami would undoubtedly need to win the Copa America in order to be awarded the Ballon d’Or.
8) Florian Wirtz
This guy will probably go up this list if Germany wins a home Euros because he was a vital member of the title-winning and maybe Europa League-winning Bayer Leverkusen team.
7) Phil Foden
A truly wonderful player who is having the season of his life at Manchester City and will be central to any assault England makes on the European Championship. But the Champions League exit hits his chances hard.
6) Rodri
Probably the best player of 2023 and if you don’t win the Ballon d’Or when you win the Treble, you ain’t winning it in a relatively fallow year.
5) Lautaro Martinez
The Argentine has been an amazing player for Inter this season, guiding them to yet another Serie A title. After missing the award last year to his fellow countryman Messi, he has been consistent with goals. With the league title and summer’s Copa America if they win, could stand a chance on being on the poduim.
4) Harry Kane
No England player has won the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001. Who better to end the drought than the best English player of the last decade? And imagine if he somehow manages to pocket even this most rarefied of all individual awards before getting his hands on a single team trophy.
3) Kylian Mbappe
Six times he has been in the top 10 but 2023 marked his first time on the podium behind Messi and Haaland. Realistically he now needs to win the Euros with France after ultimately failing in the Champions League with PSG.
2) Vinicius Junior
Would a Champions League/La Liga double be enough for a player outside the Euros? We might be about to find out. We think he might need to grow up a little first.
1) Jude Bellingham
A wonderful start to life in Madrid meant Bellingham was the early frontrunner to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or. A Champions League with Real Madrid and Euro 2024 with England could yet do the trick, but he was poor v Manchester City and then Bayern Munich
