By: Davi Albuquerque, Francisco Mota and Gabriel Loureiro (Grade 3)

The Ballon d’Or is an award that elects the best football player of the year. In the current season (2023-2024) there are strong participants. The top 5 favorite athletes this year are: Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Toni Kroos and by far, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Júnior. There is a strong discussion between who should win since both are from Real Madrid, they won together La Liga, the Spanish Supercup and the Champions League. The only difference between Vinicius and Bellingham’s season are the goals and assists. Bellingham scored 23 goals and assisted 13, while Vinicius did almost the same, with 24 goals and 11 assists.

The Ballon d’Or started a long time ago, and has an interesting history. The first edition was in 1956 and was made by Gabriel Hanot, an editor from French Football, a sports magazine. At that time, the conditions to participate in the award were being European and playing in a European Club. In those circumstances, the first player to ever win was Stanley Matthews, a Blackpool player. After 39 years, the rules changed, since the player just needed to play in a European Club, regardless of their nationality. The conditions were adjusted again after 12 years, so players from anywhere in the world could compete without club or nationality restrictions. In 2010, the Ballon d’Or merged with FIFA World Player of the Year, creating the FIFA Ballon d’Or. Although, in 2016 both awards returned to their original form.

Retornar ao