Kylian Mbappe was surprised by Rodri winning Ballon d'Or over Real Madrid teammate Vinicius Jr

Mbappe made his feelings clear on who deserved the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

The fact that Rodri defeated Vinicius Jr to win the Ballon d’Or perplexed Kylian Mbappe. Rodri, a midfielder for Manchester City and Spain, defeated Vinicius Jr to win the coveted Ballon d’Or in October 2024.

However, the Spanish midfielder’s win was met with plenty of criticism as many fans and pundits alike were not convinced that the City star merited the prize. Many assumed that the Brazilian would lift the award but in a surprising turn of events it was Rodri.

Real Madrid, who learned of the results just hours before the ceremony began, skipped the award ceremony in Paris, dividing opinions over Rodri’s selection over the Brazilian.

After witnessing his Los Blancos teammate lose out on the Golden Ball, Mbappe has now spoken out about his feelings, describing the voting procedure as surprising.

He also shared his thoughts on whether his countryman Dembele, who is having a fantastic season for Paris Saint-Germain in 2024–25, may take home the award this year.

In response to Le Parisien’s question regarding Dembele’s prospects, and Rodri beating Vinicius Jr in Ballon d’Or the 26-year-old stated:

⚠️ | QUICK STATPlayers with more than 30 goals in a single campaign for Real Madrid since Cristiano Ronaldo left the club:• Karim Benzema (44 in 2021/22, 31 in 2022/23)🆕 Kylian Mbappé (31 in 2024/25)French no. 9s doing the trick for Los Blancos! 🇫🇷💫 pic.twitter.com/UURz7M7kYU

— Sofascore Football (@SofascoreINT) March 15, 2025

“Today we don’t know who’s going to win the Ballon d’Or. We shouldn’t rule anyone out; all the players can be awarded, maybe even a goalkeeper. The last one I thought would go to Vinicius, but in the end, it went to Rodri. If I had told you three months ago, you would have said, ‘What the hell are you talking about?”

Mbappe is enjoying an impressive season despite the early difficulties at the club. He has scored 30 goals in all competitions already. He certainly will be one of the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or this year if he steers Los Blancos to the Champions League and LaLiga this term.

This week, Mbappe and Dembele will return to play for France as they try and lead Les Bleus in their two-leg Nations League quarterfinal matchup against Croatia.

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