Will Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi attend 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony?

Published at :October 24, 2024 at 4:27 PM

Modified at :October 25, 2024 at 11:00 PM

Both superstars are not on the list of nominees.

Many people consider Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to be the best football players of all time. Messi won eight Ballon d’Or titles, while Ronaldo won five.

Ronaldo and Messi have not been listed as Ballon d’Or nominees for the first time since 2004. The Ballon d’Or presentation is set for October 29, 2024.

Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are reportedly planning to skip the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony after the knowledge that for the first time none of them has made the list of the top 30 nominees.

They're all here! But… who should win it? #ballondor pic.twitter.com/SrkHBrJtuI
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) September 4, 2024

Messi is currently the defending Ballon d’Or winner, after leading Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he beat the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe last season.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s last Ballon d’Or came in 2017 since then he has not got his hands on the most coveted prize.

Meanwhile, for months, Vinicius Junior has been the front-runner to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or. The forward displayed another massive performance when he scored a hat-trick against Borussia Dortmund in their 5-2 win. This win was special as Los Blancos were two goals down.

PARTIDAZO ✅HAT-TRICK ✅MVP ✅Simplemente, @vinijr en #UCL. pic.twitter.com/sTjgTwaMQo
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) October 22, 2024

The Brazilian forward had an incredible last season. He is set to contend with his teammate Jude Bellingham and Manchester City midfielder Rodri for the golden prize.

Vinicius has helped Los Blancos win both LaLiga and the Champions League in the past 12 months. His showing with Brazil at the Copa America last summer was the sole drawback.

Had he led the Selecao to the trophy he would have been the clear favourite to win the award. Now he will face serious competition from the aforementioned players.

If he wins the prize he will become the first Brazilian to win the award after former Madrid player Kaka, who won the accolade in 2007.

Vinicius, who began his career as a tricky winger, had an incredible comeback for Madrid last season, scoring 24 goals and dishing out 11 assists in 39 games across all competitions.

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