The last time a player from England won the Ballon d’Or was in 2001, when a young Michael Owen claimed the award. The iconic former Liverpool striker became the fourth English star to sit atop the throne of world football, joining Sir Stanley Matthews (1956), Sir Bobby Charlton (1966) and Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979).
The Three Lions’ current squad is one brimming with youthful talent who could claim the Ballon d’Or soon. Jude Bellingham, 21, was close to doing so in October when he finished third behind the winner, Manchester City’s Rodri and his second-placed Real Madrid teammate Vinicius Junior.
Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, 22, Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, 23, and Manchester City’s Phil Foden, 24, are other English gems who come to mind in the Ballon d’Or debate. Rodri’s win was contentious, as many expected Vinicius to prevail. A similar controversy occurred when Lionel Messi won a record-extending eighth award last year.
Messi, 36, beat City’s Erling Haaland, 24, to the France Football award after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina. The latter missed out despite record-breaking goalscoring feats in his debut season at the Etihad, helping the Cityzens clinch a continental treble.
Haaland wasn’t at the World Cup in Qatar after Norway failed to qualify, so he had to watch Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappe dominate the tournament in the Middle East.
However, this might not have been the case had Haaland decided to take up his eligibility to represent England instead of the Scandanavian country, who are currently 48th in FIFA’s rankings.
Haaland on choosing Norway over England
The City star could have had Three Lions on his shirt
Haaland might be the biggest name in football history who could have played for England but chose not to. The enigmatic frontman was born in Leeds in 2000 but moved to Byrne with his family at the age of three. This is why he opted to represent Norway, a nation with just 5.5m inhabitants, at international level – where he’s flourished with 38 goals in 39 caps.
In an interview with GOAL in 2022, the ex-Borussia Dortmund man opened up on this decision. He claims he was proud to be leading the line for the Lions:
I lived here [England] for three-and-a-half or four years and I lived in Norway for such a long time, so then it was natural for me to choose Norway. You never know how it would be if maybe my father played longer in England or whatever, maybe I would be English, I don’t know. But yeah, I’m Norwegian and I’m proud of it.
Haaland might be wreaking havoc in front of goal, but he’s yet to appear at a major international tournament. Norway missed out on a ticket to Qatar and was given the winter off in 2022 when the World Cup took place. He also sat out this year’s European Championships after his country failed to qualify for the tournament in Germany.
This arguably played its part in Haaland missing out on the Ballon d’Or to Messi in 2023. He couldn’t display his dominance on the world stage while the Argentine hero captained La Abiceleste to glory in the Middle East.
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Haaland’s 2025 Ballon d’Or battle
The Norweigan could slug it out with Vinicius
The race for the 2025 Ballon d’Or has begun, and a new star will likely ascend to the throne. Rodri is out injured with an ACL injury, while Messi is away in the MLS with Inter Miami, which limits his chances of triumphing. Many expect a two-horse race between the previous two runner-ups, Vinicius and Haaland, who lead GIVEMESPORT’s Ballon d’Or power rankings.
Haaland has found goals this season despite City’s worrying results, which have put them at serious risk of losing the title race for the first time since 2020. Their number nine is leading the Premier League Golden Boot race with 12 goals in as many games.
Vinicius has responded perfectly to missing out on the Ballon d’Or with inspired performances for Madrid. He registered 12 goals and eight assists in his first 18 games this season. There is a concern that Los Blancos will miss out on trophy success as they trail Barcelona in the La Liga standings heading into December.
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Ballon d’Or 2025 Power Rankings
The race for the 2025 Ballon d’Or award begins with Vinicius Junior and Lamine Yamal among the early front-runners
Next year’s Ballon d’Or will predominantly be determined by players’ contributions at club level as there is no major international tournament over the coming months.
However, the first edition of the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup will feature 32 teams, including holders City and record-holders Madrid. As FIFA looks to place more importance on the competition, it could have a say in who wins next year’s Ballon d’Or.
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Journalists of 4 Countries Accused of Costing Vinicius Jr the Ballon d’Or
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was furious that Vinicius received a lack of votes from four different countries.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt as of 25/11/2024.
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