Although the 2023-2024 season has only passed 1/3 of the way, right now, the Golden Ball race has started, with expectations for a completely new era, no longer overshadowed by Messi and Ronaldo.

Jube Bellingham is a leading candidate for the Golden Ball title. Photo: Goal

The famous Goal magazine has created a race for the 2024 Golden Ball title based on the performance of the stars. Goal’s criteria are based entirely on performances from the beginning of the season until now and additional indicators will be added thanks to the title.

Goal’s list currently stops at the Top 15. Of the 15 players appearing, only Ronaldo (Al-Nassr) is playing in Asia. The remaining 14 players are all playing at top European clubs. Among these 14 people, there are 6 players playing in the Premier League, La Liga has 4 representatives. Bundesliga has 2 names, Serie A and Ligue-1, each tournament has 1 great player.

Position from 10th – 15th in the list of 15 leading stars in the 2024 Golden Ball race voted by Goal. Photo: S90

Among the 5 names ranked 10th – 15th, Antoine Griezmann is the one least likely to win the title. Lautaro Martinez’s Inter is currently leading Serie A and still has the ability to go far in the Champions League. For Jamal Musiala, playing for Bayern is like an insurance belt that helps this young talent always win domestic titles. This season, Bayern is trying to reform and the possibility of going far in the Champions League still exists.

Cristiano Ronaldo is playing very well at Al-Nassr, but tournaments in Asia, even the AFC Champions League, are not as prestigious as a European domestic championship. Therefore, CR7 needs to make efforts to create more influence. Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski must focus all his efforts on Barcelona in the season when the home team at Camp Nou is determined to reclaim everything from Real Madrid.

All five of these stars are aiming for next summer’s international tournaments, EURO 2024 and Copa America 2024. Champion titles in these tournaments are very important to people like Ronaldo or Lewandowski.

6th – 10th place on Goal’s list for the 2024 Golden Ball race. Photo: S90

In this group there are 3 Manchester City players. In the 2023 Golden Ball race, Rodri is ranked 5th overall after Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Kevin De Bruyne. This season, when Haaland is still the mainstay of The Citizens and De Bruyne is expected to suffer many injuries, Rodri will continue to be the mainstay, but becoming the number 1 star will be very difficult, not to mention the fact that Man City must continue. unmatched like the 2022-2023 season.

Although Julian Alvarez and Bernardo Silva are good, their influence in the squad is not great enough to be rated for high positions in each ballot. Even in the list of 100 journalists voting for the 2023 Golden Ball, only the journalist representing Portugal voted for Silva in first place.

As for Alvarez, he is too young and will need more time to become a leader. Meanwhile, even though he is young, Vinicius Jr.’s influence on the team is much greater than in the Real Madrid shirt. However, the Brazilian star still needs to win many titles in the Los Blancos shirt and must play a leading role.

The other person is Bukayo Saka, the opportunity will be very difficult because he is playing for Arsenal. The Gunners are making clear progress, but becoming a top European club is something in the future. There is a way for Saka to take advantage, which is to win the Premier League, Champions League and even… EURO 2024.

The top 5 positions according to Goal voting for the 2024 Golden Ball title are up to FIFA Days in November 2023. Photo: S90

Among these 5 stars, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are the ones who appeared in the Top 5 final nominations for the 2023 Golden Ball. They are still shining stars and promise to continue to stir up this race. . Mbappe has an advantage over Haaland in terms of national team strength, but Haaland has support in Man City, a team that is much stronger than PSG.

Harry Kane, after moving to Bayern Munich, is highly appreciated in this race. The English striker scored continuously and became the number 1 star of the “Gray Tigers”. If Bayern wins the Champions League this season and Kane plays well at EURO 2024, his chances of winning the Golden Ball will be very high.

Meanwhile, although Liverpool cannot play in the Champions League this season, Mohamed Salah is still named. The Egyptian striker showed how important his position in the Liverpool squad is. However, the opportunity for Salah to win the Golden Ball is too difficult because in the Premier League, The Kop is unlikely to surpass Man City.

Finally, Jude Bellingham. The English star just won the 2023 Kopa Trophy and is Real Madrid’s number 1 star with an impressive scoring record. From when Ronaldo won the 2008 Golden Ball until Messi won the 2022 Golden Ball, all players who won this title played for Real Madrid or Barcelona (Messi in 2021 played for PSG but his achievements were counted in his final season). playing for Barca).

In a team with Champions League DNA and the Golden Ball like Real Madrid, just by being number 1, Bellingham will be called. Not to mention, the England team is currently very strong and the chance for Bellingham to win EURO 2024 is not small.