Manchester City’s Rodri beats Real Madrid superstars to win 2024 Ballon d’Or

Rodri claims the prestigious Ballon d’Or award for 2024 (Picture: Getty Images)

Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri has won the 2024 Ballon d’Or after an amazing year which saw him win the Premier League and European Championship, while Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati won the Women’s Ballon d’Or.

It is rare that a holding midfielder claims the big individual prize, but the 28-year-old has proved so influential for club and country that he has earned himself the award.

Real Madrid superstars Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham finished second and third respectively, with the Spanish giants not happy about it.

After a reported leak of the results before they were announced Real Madrid were aware that none of their players were going to win the Ballon d’Or so decided to snub Monday’s ceremony in Paris.

Rodri picked up the award in the absence of any of the Real Madrid stars, having arrived at the prestigious ceremony on crutches.

The Spaniard is currently out of action with an ACL injury picked up against Arsenal in September and is expected to miss the rest of the season as a result.

Rodri becomes the first Premier League player to win the award since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008 and the first Spanish male winner since Luis Suarez in 1960.

‘I’d like to tell you an anecdote the story that led me here,’ he said. ‘When I was 17-year-old I packed up my suitcases and I went to Villarreal with a dream to work in the Premier League, and one day I called my father crying telling him it was all over and that I had invested my life to get here and I had the feeling that, this was it.

Rodri helped Spain to Euro 2024 glory in July (Picture: Getty Images)

‘My father said we had come all the way here, let’s keep going and this is something that changed my mindset and now, here I am. I am a normal boy who never gets carried away with stereotypes. Hard work is what matters.’

26-year-old Bonmati wins the Women’s Ballon d’Or for the second year on the spin after playing a huge role in Barcelona winning the Champions League and La Liga F.

Caroline Graham Hansen came second and Salma Paralluelo took third place.

‘I’m so grateful to be here to receive this award for the second time,’ said Bonmati.

‘I always say this is not something that you can do alone, I’m so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful players who help me to keep growing into a better player. So thank you to my teammates because without them I wouldn’t be here, I would also like to thank my club and Joan Laporta.’

Aitana Bonmati has won the Women’s Ballon d’Or for the second straight year (Picture: Getty Images)

Vinicius Jr enjoyed Champions League glory with Real Madrid this year (Picture: Getty Images)

Jude Bellingham got his hands on the Champions League trophy for the first time this year (Picture: Getty Images)

Barcelona and Spain star Lamine Yamal won the Kopa Trophy, which is awarded to the best Under-21 player in world football.

Arda Guler was second in the Kopa Trophy rankings, followed by Kobbie Mainoo, Savinho and Pau Cubarsi.

Jude Bellingham won the award last year, but Barcelona have dominated it in recent years, with Pedri the winner in 2021 and Gavi in ’22.

There was another win for Barcelona as they claimed Women’s Club of the Year, while it was Real Madrid who landed Men’s Club of the Year after their Champions League and La Liga double last season.

The Gerd Muller Trophy is handed out to the highest scoring player over the previous season and this was shared by Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe after their equal 52 goals for club and country.

The England captain was the only one of the two in attendance so he picked up the trophy alone from from Bayern Munich legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Harry Kane shared the Gerd Muller Trophy with Kylian Mbappe (Picture: Getty Images)

Aston Villa and Argentina star Emiliano Martinez won the Yashin Trophy for the second year on the spin for the best goalkeeper in the world.

Emma Hayes won Women’s Coach of the Year, while Carlo Ancelotti won the Men’s Coach of the Year.

The full list of Ballon d’Or nominees were as follows:

Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid)
Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Turkey, Inter)
Dani Carvajal (Spain, Real Madrid)
Rúben Dias (Portugal, Manchester City)
Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine, Dnipro / Girona / Roma)
Phil Foden (England, Manchester City)
Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain, Bayer Leverkusen)
Erling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City)
Mats Hummels (Germany, Borussia Dortmund)
Harry Kane (England, Bayern Munich)
Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid)
Ademola Lookman (Nigeria, Atalanta)
Emiliano Martínez (Argentina, Aston Villa)
Lautaro Martínez (Argentina, Inter )
Kylian Mbappé (France, Paris Saint-Germain / Real Madrid)
Martin Ødegaard (Norway, Arsenal)
Dani Olmo (Spain, Leipzig / Barcelona)
Cole Palmer (England, Manchester City / Chelsea)
Declan Rice (England, Arsenal)
Rodri (Spain, Manchester City)
Antonio Rüdiger (Germany, Real Madrid)
Bukayo Saka (England, Arsenal)
William Saliba (France, Arsenal)
Federico Valverde (Uruguay, Real Madrid)
Vinícius Júnior (Brazil, Real Madrid)
Vitinha (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain)
Nico Williams (Spain, Athletic Club)
Florian Wirtz (Germany, Bayer Leverkusen)
Granit Xhaka (Switzerland, Bayer Leverkusen)
Lamine Yamal (Spain, Barcelona)