The annual football award Ballon d’Or presented by France Football announced their 30-man shortlist a couple of weeks ago. With some similar faces, we do have some fresh ones making their first appearance in this year’s list. 2018 Ballon d’Or Rankings 30-26
There hasn’t been a winner outside of Messi and Ronaldo since 2007. Could this be the year of a new player lifting up the Ballon d’Or? By looking at the players in this list, France Football heavily weighs in the Champions League and World Cup more than they should, which I disagree with a bit, but I’ll go on a player-by-player ranking to get into it. I’ll follow France football guidelines to rank each player by their true performance in all competition.
30. Karim Benzema
Honestly, I thought I was looking at a parody shortlist when I saw his name. I just don’t understand why the committee thinks Benzema is a top 30 player within the last year. With 47 appearances and only 12 goals in all competitions last season, it’s ridiculous he’s on this list.
Also, he couldn’t play for his home country during the World Cup, and they went on to win the tournament without him. It does help that this award is by FRANCE football, but there’s no way he deserves a spot on the list.
29. Mario Mandzukic
The Croatian had a decent World Cup performance, helping Croatia to their first World Cup final in team history. However, he had an underperforming season with Juventus, only scoring 10 goals, but four came in Champions League play. This performance ranked him outside of the top 50 goal scorers in Serie A last season.
His teammate, Paulo Dybala, scored 22 goals in the league and wasn’t nominated. But because of his short performance in the Champions League and in the World Cup, it guarantees him a spot on this year’s shortlist.
28. Gareth Bale
This was a hard decision to put Gareth Bale at the 28th spot, but missing 14 matches last season will affect that outcome. Scoring a banger and capitalizing on a Karius mistake in the Champions League Final, Gareth Bale looked sensational. However, he was inconsistent during the season, only scoring one more goal in CL competition and going unnoticed in League games. So, I have to keep Bale low in my list.
27. Sergio Ramos
Ramos being the third Real Madrid player in the bottom five just makes it seem like I’m trying to get rid of all the Real Madrid players ASAP. There’s no doubt Sergio Ramos is one of the greatest players in this generation, but he’s been on the decline in recent years. He commits too many errors and loses track of his placement on the field at times. It showed in the World Cup during his performance for Spain. As the captain of three-straight Champions League titles, he deserves a spot for one more year.
26. Hugo Lloris
The Spurs goalkeeper showed he’s good but not elite among goalkeepers. He was second in the Premier League for mistakes leading to a goal with five. Lloris also ranked 10th among goalkeepers in the World Cup with 12 saves. Shockingly, he had a save percentage of 66.7% in the WC. France didn’t need to rely on him while making the run. With those numbers, I’d rather have Steve Mandanda to match the stats.
Who do you think was too low on the list? Let me know on Twitter and IG @mtz_persources