Ranking the top contenders for the 2024 Ballon d'Or

The football world was not surprised when Lionel Messi clinched his record-setting eighth Ballon d'Or. The legendary Argentine footballer led his country to the 2022 World Cup, arguably solidifying his reputation as the greatest to ever play the sport.

His closest competitors in 2023 were Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, both having had standout years in their careers. Haaland racked up 54 goals in all competitions during that timeline, while Mbappe played a crucial part in guiding France back-to-back to the World Cup final, where he impressively scored a hat-trick against Argentina. Despite his remarkable performance, Argentina emerged as the winners.

Expectations are high for all three in 2024, even with Messi's transfer to Inter Miami at the club level. There are plenty of other players who are optimistic they stand a chance of being named the best player in the world.

90min has listed its favourites for the award.

Messi, regarded by many as the best ever, is expected to receive votes in 2024 for his reputation alone. His stellar performances are also worth noting. Even as he plays in MLS, Messi's decision not to retire internationally following the World Cup victory means he has another shot at the Copa America title in the summer. If he maintains his World Cup performance level, Argentina is likely to clinch the Copa America title, with Messi as a possible Ballon d'Or contender.

In Xavi's first full season as head coach, Barcelona comfortably won the La Liga thanks in part to the goals from Robert Lewandowski. Despite approaching the end of his career, Lewandowski remains one of Europe's top goalscorers. If Barcelona repeats another success in 2023/24, it's likely thanks to Lewandowski's efforts.

Arsenal under Mikel Arteta's guidance has been impressive, positioning the club as a top-tier Premier League team. Bukayo Saka, one of the best wingers globally, has turned heads with his performance. His crucial role with England could be the deciding factor as Arsenal tries to end their 20-year Premier League title drought.

Manchester City's 2023 run was nothing short of extraordinary, clinching a record fifth Club World Cup over Fluminense. Bernardo Silva's consistency has been key to this success.

Even after his fallout with Manchester United and subsequent move to the Saudi Pro League, Cristiano Ronaldo has not stopped doing what he does best: scoring goals. If he carries his form into Euro 2024 for Portugal, he might end his international career with another medal.

For Lautaro Martinez, everything might be falling into place finally. More accurate in front of the goal than ever, Martinez has the potential to be the star in Argentina's Copa America run.

There are moments when watching Vinicius Junior blaze past defenders and provide perfect passes to his teammates that you can't help but consider him as the world's best footballer. But with Bellingham now stealing most of the limelight at Real Madrid, Vinicius' brilliance might be overlooked.

Julian Alvarez was initially brought in as a striker, but Pep Guardiola chose to use him as an attacking midfielder in the 2023/24 season. This decision bore fruit as Alvarez is now not just one of the world's most versatile forwards but also one of the most sought-after players, indicating potential for Ballon d'Or.

If you're looking for a model of consistency, look no further than the completely rejuvenated Antoine Griezmann.Working under Diego Simeone seems to get the absolute best out of the Frenchman, who showed glimpses of his returning brilliance during France's run to the 2022 World Cup final.He's scoring goals, is putting in player of the match performances, and is basically running the show for Atleti.

In what was considered a 'down year', Mohamed Salah managed to bag 28 goals and 14 assists in all competitions during the 2022/23 campaign. That is how good Mohamed Salah is at football. The 2023/24 campaign has seen normal service resumed for Salah at Liverpool, and leading the club to another Premier League title, as well as a potential AFCON win with Egypt, could be enough to sway voters into handing him a first Ballon d'Or win.

If Rodri continues to plays the way he did throughout the 2022/23 season, he's in with a shout.In a career-best campaign, the defensive midfielder was the MVP for the best football team in the world. The only problem is that, in order to be that MVP, Rodri had to play over 60 games of football in a single season - something he's not too keen on doing again anytime soon.

One word: goals. Erling Haaland scores goals. A ludicrous amount of goals. A record-breaking amount of goals. Those goals helped Manchester City to the treble, Haaland to second in the Ballon d'Or rankings and the Norwegian to the Gerd Muller Award too. The only thing that may hurt his chances of winning the award is Norway simply not being good enough to compete at Euro 2024.

Did you see the goal Kane scored against Darmstadt in the Bundesliga? Says it all, really.Harry Kane is one of, if not the only, footballer in the world currently capable of scoring goals like that, and having moved to Bayern Munich, he's finally going to win some trophies (barring an unmitigated disaster in Bavaria).Winning the Champions League with Bayern and captaining England to Euro 2024 glory would go a long way to persuading voters that Kane's the man.

Surely it's only a matter of time before the best footballer of his generation wins the Ballon d'Or, right?Mbappe has finished in the top ten in every year since 2017, enjoying a career-best third place finish in 2023, and is clearly a favourite of voters thanks to his performances in big games - he scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final and has well over 200 career goals to his name for PSG. As the star player for the favourites to win Euro 2024, Mbappe is likely to put in some eye-catching performances which will surely garner plenty of votes.

Jude Bellingham's start to life at Real Madrid has been out of this world, ascending the Englishman from 'wonderkid' to 'superstar' status in the blink of an eye.A game-winning brace in his first ever Clasico against Barcelona are two of over a dozen games Bellingham scored in just three months, quickly ascending him to the top of the mountain in the Spanish capital.All eyes are on Bellingham, yet he doesn't appear to be fazed by anything. Quite the contrary, he appears to thrive in the pressure-cooker environment of the Santiago Bernabeu, and he could hold the key to finally ending England's long wait for trophy success at international level.If Bellingham keeps going at the rate he is, he could be a shoo-in for the Ballon d'Or.