Ballon d’Or: Rodri and Bonmati winners as Real Madrid boycott ceremony

Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe scored 52 goals apiece so shared the Gerd Muller Trophy. Just Kane collected it of course.

“Thank you to my club Bayern Munich, all my staff, team-mates, for helping me score all the goals I scored,” the England captain said. “It’s an honour to take this award from a club legend (Karl-Heinz Rummenigge), thank you very much.”

Plenty of smiles and celebrations for those who bothered to turn up – and for Emma Hayes, with a recorded message for her triumph as the top coach in the women’s game.

Bit of a clean sweep for Spanish football tonight!

Rodri became the third person not named Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the award since 2008. It was the first time since 2003 in which neither Messi nor Ronaldo made the final 30-man list of nominees.

Portugal’s Ronaldo, who has won the award five times and was the last Premier League player to win it in 2008, also failed to receive a nomination last year after moving to Saudi Arabia. Messi, who won for a record eighth time in 2023, missed out despite Argentina’s Copa America triumph.

Rodri has only lost a match once in the past 18 months – City’s surprise FA Cup final defeat by Manchester United last season.

Earlier, Rodri’s national teammate Lamine Yamal won the Kopa Trophy for the best Under-21 player by helping Spain to a perfect Euro 2024 campaign, winning all seven games en route to lifting the trophy.

Bonmati won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the second consecutive year while compatriot Jennifer Hermoso was awarded the Socrates Award for her role in the fight for women’s rights in football and her courageous stance against sexism in sport.

Real Madrid had somewhat signalled Rodri’s success before the ceremony began as their delegation cancelled their trip to the French capital.

In a statement reported by Spanish newspaper AS, the club said: “If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to (Dani) Carvajal as the winner.

“As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or does not respect Real Madrid. Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”

Yet Madrid finished the night with two awards and a share of a third, and with four players in the top six in the final ranking for the men’s Ballon d’Or – Vinicius, Bellingham, Carvajal and Kylian Mbappe, who finished sixth in the voting, one place behind Rodri’s team-mate Erling Haaland.

“Incredible night for me,” said Rodri, who is out for the season after injuring his ACL last month and arrived on crutches to the ceremony. “One of my key things is I always try to improve every game.

“I just want to say thank you again to the people who recognize my value in the game,” he said. “When I was a kid I never thought of winning the Ballon d’Or, but in the last years I’ve been playing the highest level.”

“He is a player completely without ego, whose performance level over a very long period of time has been exceptional,” Man City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain said. “The consistency he has shown is the result of hard work and dedication.”

This isn’t going to go away is it? Real Madrid calling something “politics” when they opted to not turn up at all…honestly, it’s such a cry-baby response from one of the world’s most privileged clubs.

They’ll doubtless frame it as focusing on the job at hand but they certainly haven’t missed out on turning up when they’ve been winning the biggest prizes.

No pre-recorded messages or any kind of acknowledgement tonight and they won or shared in the manager award, club award and Gerd Muller trophy.

For his part, Vinicius’ tweet reads: “I’ll do it ten times if I have to. They’re not ready.”

What a night for these two. Two Spain midfielders, two absolutely dominant forces in their game.

Aitana Bonmati, a second triumph for her in the Ballon d’Or.

Rodri, a first victory for him in the award – and for a defensive midfielder.

Although Rodri became just the second Spanish men’s player to lift the Ballon d’Or, the country’s premier club was barely anywhere to be seen. Despite more than one award going to the club or individuals within, nobody representing Real Madrid appeared in Paris as a dismal few days for the European champions got worse. At Manchester City, that knowledge added to the satisfaction of a worthy first ever club winner. The relationship between the clubs, especially at that media level, is poor.

It all illustrates the increasing intrigue around an award that is supposed to be so singular, in rewarding football’s dominant individual player in a calendar year. And then some.

France Football had nevertheless made a point of telling media that the Ballon d’Or decision absolutely wouldn’t leak, only for Vinicius Junior’s camp to get wind on Sunday evening that he wouldn’t be winning the award. Connections in the Spanish football federation were stating that Rodri had won it. The player himself was said to be extremely confident, and talking about it to teammates.

It was a shock to Madrid, since they had been so confident their odds-on favourite was going to win it that they were preparing to send a party of 50 to the ceremony in Paris, with a five-hour broadcast planned for their official television station. Club president Florentino Perez immediately scrapped all of that on finding out.

Miguel Delaney with the story of tonight’s Ballon d’Or – and why Rodri was a worthy winner

Aitana Bonmati has won the Ballon d’Or Feminin award for the second year running, while Rodri pipped Vinicius Junior to the men’s Ballon d’Or award in a surprising outcome at the 2024 edition of the ceremony.

Full report:

Rodri explains a bit about the development of his game and says he’ll celebrate tonight with those who have supported him in the bad moments.

He also adds he’s progressing well with his injury.

Vinicius (second) and Bellingham (third) are confirmed as the podium finishers.