Five journos left Rodri out of top 10 for Ballon d’Or, three snubbed Vinicius

It was revealed that five of the 99 journalists who voted for this year's Ballon d'Or left eventual winner Rodri out of their top 10 list while three journos did not have Vinicius Junior, who came second after the Spanish midfielder, in the top 10 of their ballot.

France Football, the magazine that organises the Ballon d'Or award, revealed Rodri beat Vinicius to the 2024 men's Ballon d'Or by a small margin of just 41 points. 

Details reported by L'Equipe ahead of a full release of voting results by organisers France Football show that Rodri amassed 1170 points to Vinicius's 1129.

Real Madrid boycotted the Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris on October 28 after learning that their star forward Vinicius was not going to get on the podium, despite being the favourite for an incredible season that saw the Brazilian forward win the Champions League, LaLiga and Super Copa with his club. 

Each of the 99 judges for the men's award listed a top 10 for the Ballon d'Or, with each first-place vote worth 15 points, followed by 12, 10, eight, seven, five, four, three, two and one point for the 10th-place slot.

That means there were 6,633 points voted for in total, showing Rodri's 41-point lead over Brazil winger Vinícius to be razor-thin.

Five of the jurors did not select Rodri in their ballot, while Vinicius was snubbed by three individuals. Rodri, meanwhile, was put on top of the list by 49 judges and Vinicius saw 35 jurors place him on top.  

There were other surprises as well. Ademola Lookman, who helped  Atalanta to Europa League triumph, was put in first place by one journalist.

Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, and Lautaro Martinez also topped the lists alongside a number of Real Madrid players.