Ballon d'Or 2024: Predictions, odds and expert picks for next year's France Football award winners

Kyle Bonn

•
Ballon d'Or 2024: Predictions, odds and expert picks for next year's France Football award winners image

With Lionel Messi winning his eighth — and likely final — Ballon d'Or in 2023, it's time to look ahead at the most intriguing year in the award's history, or at least for the past decade.

Next year's prize will be a fascinating affair. Only two players not named Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo have won the Ballon d'Or since 2008, being Luka Modric in 2018 and Karim Benzema in 2022.

Now, with both those legendary players potentially out of the picture due to them playing outside Europe's major leagues, the field opens up to include a host of young, international superstars who are looking to take advantage of the power vacuum.

With the 2024 award to be decided over the 2023/24 season and next year's international tournament, The Sporting News looks at the most viable candidates to position themselves as the heir apparent to the generation of legends begging for new greats to be anointed.

MORE: Lionel Messi, Aitana Bonmati and the winners on Ballon d'Or night 2023

Odds to win 2024 Ballon d'Or

At this point, there are no odds yet available for the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner.

The Sporting News will monitor the betting market and update this when odds become available.

Predictions to win 2024 Ballon d'Or

The Sporting News polled its team of soccer experts to predict the 2024 Ballon d'Or, with each writer submitting a top three. With descending points given for a first-place, second-place, and third-place vote, below is the results of the compilation, along with a short description from each voter on their selection.

Rank Player Nationality Club Points
(1st place votes)
1. Jude Bellingham England Real Madrid 21 (5)
2. Kylian Mbappe France PSG 12 (2)
3. Erling Haaland Norway Man City 12 (1)
T-4. Bukayo Saka England Arsenal 1
T-4. John Stones England Man City 1
T-4. Harry Kane England Bayern Munich 1

PREDICTED WINNER — Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid / England)

With his sensational start to life at Real Madrid, and growing importance for the England national team, Jude Bellingham is the way-too-early predicted winner of the 2024 Ballon d'Or from Sporting News.

Voters explain their selections

Kyle Bonn

  1. Jude Bellingham
  2. Erling Haaland
  3. Kylian Mbappe

It's impossible to ignore what Jude Bellingham is doing this season, for club domestically and continentally, as well as for country — he will have all the chances in the world to keep shining bright for Real Madrid and England in the coming year. Erling Haaland is a threat as well as he continues to bang in goals and Man City remain strong, and this could come down to the Champions League final, although a winning performance in the Euros would be tough to beat. Kyilan Mbappe will have to leave PSG to be a contender again, unless France blow everyone away this coming summer.

Raj Mahil

  1. Jude Bellingham
  2. Erling Haaland
  3. Bukayo Saka

Bellingham is clinching every game for the biggest club on the planet, so it's safe to say that this time next year, the outskirts of Birmingham will have produced a Ballon d'Or king. Haaland will be runner-up again after cruising to another Golden Boot double. If France win Euro 2024, this prediction of Mbappe not making the podium will look rather silly, but for now, I'll back against Les Bleus and his club form won't come close to saving him. Instead, Bukayo Saka will, after going deep in the Euros, Champions League and Premier League title race.

Joe Wright

  1. Kylian Mbappe
  2. Jude Bellingham
  3. Erling Haaland

Haaland will almost certainly end the season as the top goalscorer in European club football, but that achievement — plus winning the treble — wasn't enough to trump Lionel Messi's World Cup triumph for the 2023 prize. Major international tournaments will always skew the vote, and I make France firm favourites for Euro 2024. Mbappe probably would've won this year's Ballon d'Or had France won the World Cup final. Next year feels like his year.

Dom Farrell

  1. Jude Bellingham
  2. Erling Haaland
  3. John Stones

Bellingham is a phenomenon, a generational talent and his impact at Madrid has been simply jaw-dropping. Big prizes are in play for club and country, with only the former true for Erling Haaland, whose Norway are set to miss out on Euro 2024 as he continues to tear up the record books at Manchester City. A key team-mate for both is John Stones, an invaluable performer for England and City and a revelation in the hybrid defender/midfielder role he has made his own under Pep Guardiola — will defensive contributions be valued enough to see him rank this high?

Brad Cox

  1. Kylian Mbappe
  2. Jude Bellingham
  3. Harry Kane

With a European Championship on the way in 2024, France will be favourites to run away with the tournament. Leading the charge will be Mbappe and, as we've seen in 2023, winning trophies with your country seems to count for a lot. Bellingham is flying with Real Madrid and could make it a close race if Los Blancos win the Champions League and he carries England in the Euros. The same goes for Harry Kane, so I'm basically saying England won't win the Euros next summer but Bellingham and Kane will continue their electric starts to the 2023/24 club season.

Dom Booth

  1. Jude Bellingham
  2. Kylian Mbappe
  3. Erling Haaland

It's pretty obvious that these three players will dominate the Ballon d'Or over the next decade. The question is what order they'll put themselves in. The 2023 award came too soon for Bellingham, but his performances for Real Madrid are already turning heads and show no sign of relenting. In 2024, he'll have an international tournament in which to star, potentially helping England break their post-1966 duck. Haaland and Mbappe are both unbelievable talents but even they might start to fall short of the magnificent Jude.

Feargal Brennan

  1. Erling Haaland
  2. Jude Bellingham
  3. Kylian Mbappe

It will be super tight between Haaland and Jude Bellingham in 2023/24 but if the former comes close to replicating his numbers from last season, he will pinch it.  If the vote was cast now, Bellingham would stroll to it, but there is still a bit of "wait and see" attached to the second half of the season. Mbappe has one last throw of the dice to leave Paris as an immortal, but even if they fall short, his numbers will remain high and France appear equipped to make a run under his leadership at Euro 2024.

Claudio Rodriguez

  1. Jude Bellingham
  2. Kylian Mbappe
  3. Erling Haaland

With Messi and Cristiano on their last legs, it's time for this trident to vie with each other for the sceptre of world soccer for years to come.

Kyle Bonn

Kyle Bonn Photo

Kyle Bonn, is a Syracuse University broadcast journalism graduate with over a decade of experience covering soccer globally. Kyle specializes in soccer tactics and betting, with a degree in data analytics. Kyle also does TV broadcasts for Wake Forest soccer, and has had previous stops with NBC Soccer and IMG College. When not covering the game, he has long enjoyed loyalty to the New York Giants, Yankees, and Fulham. Kyle enjoys playing racquetball and video games when not watching or covering sports.