A small difference separated Rodri and Vinicius in the Ballon d'Or voting sports

The French newspaper L'Equipe revealed – on Friday – the details of the voting for the 2024 Ballon d'Or, the most controversial in recent years, according to experts and analysts.

Spaniard Rodrigo Hernandez “Rodri” won the Golden Ball awarded by France Football after beating Brazilian Vinicius Junior, Real Madrid striker, and his English teammates Jude Bellingham and Spaniard Dani Carvajal.

The French newspaper announced that the ten football players chosen by each of the 99 journalists received 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and one point, respectively.

The English Manchester City midfielder received 1,170 votes, 41 votes behind Vinicius, who received 1,129 votes.

Syria did not participate in the vote among the first 100 countries in the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) classification.

Ballon d'Or 2024 voting details: only 41 points separate Rodri and Vinicius Jr.

Before the distribution of the details of the votes of all the jurors, country by country and for all the trophies, to be found in France Football this Saturday on newsstands as well as on the site and the app… pic.twitter.com/z1IT8N6Q4r

— THE TEAM (@lequipe) November 8, 2024

The newspaper said that there were 5 voters who did not include Rodri among the list of the top 10 players in the world, while Vinicius was excluded by 3 journalists.

Aside from the difference between Rodri and Vinicius, the newspaper pointed out that there are 7 players who were voted first in the standings at least once, and they are: Jude Bellingham (5 times), Dani Carvajal (4 times), Toni Kroos (twice), and Kylian Mbappe. Erling Haaland, Lautaro Martinez and Ademola Lookman Lookman (once).

28-year-old Rodri explained after winning the prestigious award: “Today is not a victory for me, it is a victory for Spanish football, and for many players who did not win the Ballon d’Or even though they deserved it, such as Iniesta, Xavi, Iker Casillas and Busquets.”

Last year, the Spaniard won the English Premier League title for the fourth time in a row, an unprecedented achievement in 135 years of English football.

Ballon d'Or standings for 2024:

1. Rodri (Spain, Manchester City): 1170 points.
2. Vinicius Junior (Brazil, Real Madrid): 1129 points.
3. Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid): 917 points.
4. Dani Carvajal (Spain, Real Madrid): 550 points.
5. Erling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City): 432 points.
6. Kylian Mbappé (France, Paris Saint-Germain): 420 points.
7. Lautaro Martinez (Argentina, Inter Milan): 402 points.
8. Lamine Jamal (Spain, Barcelona): 383 points.
9. Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid): 291 points.
10. Harry Kane (England, Bayern Munich): 201 points.
11. Phil Foden (England, Manchester City): 157 points.
12. Florian Wirtz (Germany, Leverkusen): 101 points.
13. Dani Olmo (Spain, Leipzig): 86 points.
14. Ademola Lookman (Nigeria, Atalanta Bergamo): 82 points.
15. Neco Williams (Spain, Athletic Bilbao): 73 points.
16. Granit Xhaka (Switzerland, Leverkusen): 60 points.
17. Federico Valverde (Uruguay, Real Madrid): 58 points.
18. Emiliano Martinez (Argentina, Aston Villa): 28 points.
19. Martin Odegaard (Norway, Arsenal): 16 points.
20. Hakan Calhanoglu (Türkiye, Inter Milan): 15 points.
21. Bukayo Saka (England, Arsenal): 14 points.
22. Antonio Rudiger (Germany, Real Madrid): 13 points.
23. Ruben Diaz (Portugal, Manchester City): 8 points.
24. William Saliba (France, Arsenal): 8 points.
25. Cole Palmer (England, Manchester City, Chelsea): 7 points.
26. Declan Rice (England, Arsenal): 5 points.
27. Vitinha (Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain): 5 points.
28. Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain, Leverkusen): 2 points.
29. Artem Dovbek (Ukraine, Dnipro 1, Girona): Without points.
29. Mats Hummels (Germany, Dortmund): Without points.