Who should win the Ballon d'Or 2018? | OneFootball

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the Ballon d’Or for the last decade, winning five apiece and leaving no leftovers for the rest of us.

However, the pair are now into their 30s and the Messi-Ronaldo era is slowly winding down.

Can they maintain their hegemony for one more year or will someone else rise to the top?

With the award being handed out on Monday, here’s a look at the frontrunners.

Antoine Griezmann

Why he should win:

With four goals and two assists at the World Cup, he – not Kylian Mbappé – was the driving force behind France’s triumph. No players was directly involved as many goals as Griezmann at the summer’s tournament.

Plus, he starred as Atlético Madrid won the Europa League last season. Surely he has a better claim than any of his international team-mates?

Why he shouldn’t:

A total of five players in Europe have scored more goals than Griezmann (28) in 2018. All of them have played fewer games. Of the continent’s top 20 goalscorers in club football this year, he has the worst minutes per goal ratio.

It’s just not enough for a striker who wants to be crowned the world’s best player.

Kylian Mbappé

Why he should win:

Did you watch the World Cup? Mbappé stole the show on the biggest stage of them all.

In a World Cup year, the Ballon d’Or tends to go to the best player from the winning team. That was clearly Mbappé in Russia.

Why he shouldn’t:

Was he even the best player at Paris Saint-Germain in 2018? Neymar missed a few months but has still scored more goals and provided more assists than the teenager in 2018. You shouldn’t get extra points just for being born this side of the 1998 World Cup.

Mbappé is an unbelievable talent and his time will come but this year? It’s too soon.

Lionel Messi

Why he should win:

Barcelona aren’t as dominant as they were but Messi, now in his 30s, continues to deliver for them every single week. Argentina are awful yet he still scored the best goal of the summer and dragged his country to a narrow defeat against eventual winners France.

No footballer has scored more goals in 2018 than Messi. He has 44 for club and country, by the way. He also led Barcelona to the LaLiga title, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Supercup this year. The titles are definitely there.

Why he shouldn’t:

Despite the silverware, Messi lacks the showpiece performance. Barcelona and Argentina fell at the quarter-final stage and last 16 of the Champions League and World Cup respectively.

Ultimately, the Ballon d’Or winner tends to lift one of those two trophies.

Luka Modrić

Why he should win:

Best player at the World Cup. Best player in the Champions League final. Winner of Fifa’s The Best Award. What else?

Modrić is an exceptional dribbler, a world class passer, works hard, and defends smartly. He’s been the world’s finest midfielder in 2018 and has the trophies to back the claim up.

Why he shouldn’t:

Have you seen Real Madrid this season?

Modrić may have dazzled for months on end but this award is for the best player of the year. By now, he’s been poor for at least a quarter of it.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Why he should win:

He won a third consecutive Champions League in May, inspiring Real Madrid to wins over Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus. He’s since moved to Juve and seamlessly continued his form there.

In 2018, he’s scored as many goals as Messi, despite moving clubs, and his World Cup hat-trick against Spain was sensational.

Why he shouldn’t:

That World Cup game against Spain came in the group stage and Portugal went out in the last 16. Meanwhile, in the Champions League, Ronaldo did little of note after the quarter-final.

Is it really enough when his former Madrid team-mate Modrić went above and beyond right up to the finals of both competitions?

Mohamed Salah

Why he should win:

Did we witness the best individual season in Premier League history? Salah set a new record for goals in a 38-game season and in 2018 he’s got 30 goals and 12 assists in 40 Liverpool appearances.

His incredible form led Liverpool to the Champions League final and he represented Egypt at their first World Cup since since 1990. Clearly not a bad year.

Why he shouldn’t:

Salah is the only man on this list with no trophies in 2018. That may have been different if he’d avoided injury in the Champions League final but he didn’t, so here we are.

That injury also played a part at the World Cup, where he struggled to have any impact. If this award was handed out at the end of May, it’d have Salah’s name on it. But it’s December.

Raphaël Varane

Why he should win:

Both Real Madrid and France were hardly incredible attacking forces in 2018 – can we attribute their glory to their backlines? Defence and stability were, at least, the foundation of their success and Raphaël Varane was key for both teams.

The centre-back was tremendous against PSG, Juventus, Bayern and Liverpool in the Champions League. And then against Argentina, Uruguay, Belgium at the World Cup. And after it all, he went home with the two most coveted trophies in world football.

Why he shouldn’t:

Is Varane responsible for the form of his teams? Sure, partly, but the credit has to be shared with Sergio Ramos and Casemiro at club level. For France, he played with Samuel Umtiti and N’Golo Kanté. It can be hard to tell how much is down to him.

On top of that, like Modrić, Varane has really struggled for form since the World Cup ended. Real Madrid’s ongoing woes shouldn’t be ignored.