It was Kaka who won the Ballon exactly 10 years ago and since then Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominated the Ballon d’Or for a decade. The Croatian captain Luka Modric has now ended their era as he has added another trophy this year which is Ballon d’Or. This is the 5th major trophy won by Luka Modric this year including the precious UEFA Champions League.
Luka Modric Wins 2018 Ballon d’Or Award
The journey of winning trophies this year began with UEFA Champions League under the management of Zinedine Zidane. He was one of the most used and crucial players by Zidane during the Champions League campaign.
Later, Croatia did the almost impossible in the 21st edition of FIFA World Cup in Russia. Modric’s stunning performance against Argentina shocked the whole world for which he was award as the man of the match. He also grabbed the Golden Ball award of 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Modric also lifted the UEFA Best Player of the Year and Best FIFA Men’s Player of the year award before winning the Ballon d’Or award.
List of All Winners
- Ballon d’Or: Luka Modric [Croatia]
- Ballon d’Or Feminin: Ada Hegerberg [Norway]
- Kopa Trophy: Kylian Mbappe [France]
Two new awards were introduced this time. The first one is Ballon d’Or Feminin and the second is Kopa Trophy. Ballon d’Or Feminin honors the best female association player of the year and Kopa Trophy honors the best promising player under the age of 21. Norweign Ada Hegerberg won the first Ballon d’Or Feminin award and Kylian Mbappe became the first player to win Kopa Trophy.
Ballon d’Or 2018 by Ranks
Modric grabbed the award with a total of 753 points against Ronaldo’s 478 points who stood at the second spot. World Cup winner Antonie Griezmann was at the third spot with 414. Check out the full list.
Rank | Player | Nation | Club[s] | Points |
1 | Luka Modric | Croatia | Real Madrid | 753 |
2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Real Madrid, Juventus | 478 |
3 | Antoine Griezmann | France | Atletico Madrid | 414 |
4 | Kylian Mbappe | France | PSG | 347 |
5 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | Barcelona | 280 |
6 | Mohamed Salah | Egypt | Liverpool | 188 |
7 | Raphael Varane | France | Real Madrid | 121 |
8 | Eden Hazard | Belgium | Chelsea | 119 |
9 | Kevin De Bruyne | Belgium | Manchester City | 29 |
10 | Harry Kane | England | Tottenham | 25 |
11 | N’Golo Kante | France | Chelsea | 24 |
12 | Neymar | Brazil | PSG | 19 |
13 | Luis Suarez | Uruguay | Barcelona | 17 |
14 | Thibaut Courtois | Belgium | Chelsea, Real Madrid | 12 |
15 | Paul Pogba | France | Manchester United | 9 |
16 | Sergio Aguero | Argentina | Manchester City | 7 |
17 | Gareth Bale | Wales | Real Madrid | 6 |
17 | Karim Benzema | France | Real Madrid | 6 |
19 | Roberto Firmino | Brazil | Liverpool | 4 |
19 | Ivan Rakitic | Croatia | Barcelona | 4 |
19 | Sergio Ramos | Spain | Real Madrid | 4 |
22 | Edinson Cavani | Uruguay | PSG | 3 |
22 | Sadio Mane | Senegal | Liverpool | 3 |
22 | Marcelo | Brazil | Real Madrid | 3 |
25 | Alisson | Brazil | Roma, Liverpool | 2 |
25 | Mario Mandzukic | Croatia | Juventus | 2 |
25 | Jan Oblak | Slovenia | Atletico Madrid | 2 |
28 | Diego Godin | Uruguay | Atletico Madrid | 1 |
29 | Isco | Spain | Real Madrid | 0 |
29 | Hugo Lloris | France | Tottenham | 0 |