Haaland, Mbappe… players who’ll lead Ballon d’Or race in post-Messi and Ronaldo era

It’s been two days since Lionel Messi won a record eighth time Ballon d’Or. Football fans over the world are already expressing their opinion on the next football stars Haaland, Mbappe, Musiala, Bellingham, Vinicius and others who are likely to take home the prestigious award next year as it seems the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has come to an end.

A football fan who Identified himself as Pojo said, “Forget anything most players are doing now. If they like they can score all the goals in the world, The major deciding factor will be the Euros and UEFA Champions League and Whosoever his club does well in the UCL, League and he’s opportuned to win the Euros stands a bigger chance.”

“I didn’t call Africa Cup of Nations or Copa America because only Messi in that region. Vinicius might not stand a chance and even if Real Madrid does super great in winning trophies, weigh the media on Bellingham, he’d have a better chance at it than Vinicius”

“But in my honest opinion, in the next two years, Mbappe or Haaland will be on that stage. Messi and Ronaldo era are almost done, they have greater chances now.”

In the same vein another another football fan Azikiwe said, ” there are many good footballers who are capable of winning the 2024 Ballon d’Or award. Musiala And Bellingham are both fantastic players in their respective strength but until am able to see more of consistency in what they are doing right now, I won’t tip them to win the Ballon D’or. They would end up being nominated as always, Vinicius has dropped drastically in terms of performance and all, I don’t see him winning the ballon D’or soon, he has to improve. The battle is between Halland  and Mbappe. Both are goal machines”

Pelumi who is also a football fan said ” Haaland has an edge over Mbappe because of the club side performance level and personal input to that achievement.. Mbappe needs to change club”

We thought we would take a look ahead to the 2024 Ballon d’Or and post our early, speculative predictions on the youngsters who are likely to win the biggest individual award in football.

Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)

Musiala hasn’t had the same kind of start to the season as he did in the first few weeks of 2022–2023, but he still makes an impact for Bayern in the most important games, and his overall game keeps getting better.

When Germany hosts Euro 2024, he could be one of the stars of the summer. If he can enter the competition fresh off of another trophy-filled season in Munich, he will have every chance of forcing himself into the Ballon d’Or conversation and possibly even winning it.

Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)

Maybe due to injuries, Vinicius has not been at the top of his game like many football fans may have anticipated when Karim Benzema left Real Madrid. However, there have been indications in recent weeks that the Brazilian winger is returning to his peak form, and if he can, Los Blancos will have a great chance of winning titles both at home and in Europe.

Taking into account the fact that Vinicius will probably be his country’s main man at the Copa America given Neymar’s recent knee injury, and he could be well-positioned for an incredible 2024 on a personal note.

Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

Haaland did everything expected of a ballon D’or contender to win the award last season but came second, NO thanks to Argentina winning the world Cup. We still expect him to remain relentless presence in front of goal this season as he pushes towards a first Golden Ball.

It is unlikely that his form at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola will waver, and if they again pick up a couple of trophies, that could be enough to get Haaland over the line. There is a fear, however, that he will again miss the year’s biggest international tournament, with Norway not even assured of a play-off after missing out on automatic qualification for Euro 2024.

Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain)

It feels kind of weird and at the same time surprising that Mbappe doesn’t yet have a Ballon d’Or to his name till now. He won the World Cup in 2018, and then netted a hat-trick in the final as France fell just short at the final hurdle against Argentina last winter in Qatar.

On top of that, he has consistently scored important goals and won league titles for Paris Saint-Germain. And yet, it feels as though the young winger may need to win the champions league of he is to win the Ballon d’Or.

It is almost certain that he will win the award one day but this season, he again looks a class above for PSG, but they have not been playing convincely in the Champions League, and they are likely to exit UCL early and if that happens, then Mbappe will have to captain France to Euros glory to finally get his hands on the Golden Ball.

Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)

Jude Bellingham is without doubt the best footballer in the whole world right now based on current form.

Like no other new signing since Cristiano Ronaldo, he has adapted to his new surroundings at Real Madrid. Not only does he score goals often, but he also scores big ones, like the double that won El Clasico.

The boy from Birmingham has had a profound effect at Real Madrid and is already being compared to French maestro Zinedine Zidane. Everyone is surprised by his 13 goals in 13 games—and from midfield for that matter and if he keeps up those kind of play, he will undoubtedly be thrust into the discussion of the best players in history of football.

Should Bellingham continue on this form, he will also give England hope that, at the European Championship, they can finally overcome their major tournament problems. Even though there is still more work to be done, Bellingham is the man to watch right now. And the next year, we might as well watch him take home the Ballon D’or.

By Chimezie Amos