There was a time not long ago that Jude Bellingham was most people's favourite to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or.
In a break from the duopoly of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have won the Ballon D'Or on 13 occasions since 2007 – with only Luka Modric (2018) and Karim Benzema (2022) and interrupting their dominance – the award is set for a new home.
Bellingham is joined by Real Madrid teammates Vinicius Junior, Dani Carvajal and Kylian Mbappe on the shortlist for the award, which is decided by football magazine France Football. Vinicius is now the bookmakers' favourite as things stand.
The criteria to decide the award winner is split into eight categories, although in the main the France Football voting panel considers: individual performances, team performances and achievements, as well as class shown on the pitch and fair play.
Full list of Ballon d'Or 2024 nominees | All-time Ballon d'Or winners | How the winner is decided
Jude Bellingham titles, awards won in 2023/24
Bellingham contributed enormously to Real Madrid's successful campaign in La Liga in 2023/24, as well as their Champions League triumph.
That team double, in which Bellingham played a pivotal role, made it a superb year for Los Blancos, with the 21-year-old notching the assist for teammate Vinicius to make it 2-0 against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final.
Bellingham started the 2023/24 campaign in blistering form, scoring 13 goals in his first 12 appearances for Madrid – a remarkable record given he'd only scored 12 goals in 92 league appearances for former club Dortmund.
He ended the season being named in both the Champions League and La Liga teams of the season. On an individual level, Bellingham won the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year, the Champions League Young Player of the Season and in 2023 he won the prestigious Golden Boy award.
On the international stage, Bellingham has become an integral figure for England. He scored a dramatic overhead kick to equalise for the Three Lions in stoppage time of their Euro 2024 last-16 tie with Slovakia, with Gareth Southgate's side eventually going all the way to the final.
Although they lost 2-1 to Spain in that game, they owed plenty to Bellingham, despite the criticism he attracted at times throughout the tournament.
"Sometimes it feels like there's a pile-on from the fans... moments like tonight throw it back to some people" 👀
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) June 30, 2024
Jude Bellingham on how England's dramatic 2-1 win over Slovakia can hush the doubters... 🍿 pic.twitter.com/bK3D24sKXq
Jude Bellingham stats 2023/24
For England, the Stourbridge-born star has played 11 games in 2024, scoring four goals – including that memorable one against Slovakia.
Here are his full statistics for Real Madrid in all competitions for the 2023/24 season:
| La Liga | Copa del Rey | Champions League | Other | All competitions | |
| Appearances | 28 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 42 |
| Goals | 19 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 23 |
| Assists | 6 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 13 |
MORE: Who will win the Ballon D'Or 2024? List of main candidates and odds
Jude Bellingham best games 2023/24
Bellingham started the 2023/24 season in superb fashion. He stood out on his debut with a deft half-volleyed goal away at Athletic Bilbao. He then followed that with two goals and an assist for Vinicius in a 3–1 win away at Almería, and then bagged the winner at Celta Vigo to claim the La Liga player of the month for August award.
In October 2023, Bellingham scored two goals in his first Clasico, driving Madrid to a vital 2-1 win over rivals Barcelona. The first was an eye-catching long-range goal, the second a stoppage-time winner.
"He seems like a veteran, the goal to level it totally changed the game," said Carlo Ancelotti.
"Today he was stupendous and shocked everyone with his wonderful goal from the edge of the area."
Bellingham has also had some excellent games for England, scoring the only goal and being named Man of The Match as they beat Serbia 1-0 to open their Euro 2024 campaign.
Then came that goal against Slovakia, after which Bellingham performed his trademark celebration – standing with arms wide apart – and shouted "Who else?".
Why Jude Bellingham deserves to win 2024 Ballon d'Or
Jude Bellingham may not be the favourite to land the 2024 Ballon D'Or anymore, but he matches likely winner Vinicius in pretty much every area.
Bellingham's goal and assist numbers for the 2023/24 season are actually very similar to his Madrid teammate's. In actual fact, Bellingham has more goal contributions than Vini Jr.
And while Bellingham hasn't taken home any silverware on the international stage for England, neither has Vinicius with Brazil.
The Three Lions got to the final of the Euros – they wouldn't have got so far without Bellingham – whereas Vini and Brazil crashed out in the Copa America quarter-finals.
Vinicius has had more of an impact off the pitch, but Bellingham has turned himself into a global icon in the past 12 months, starring on the cover of video games, in adverts and also giving back to fans who clamour for selfies and autographs.
There is certainly an argument to be made for Vinicius, and for Manchester City and Spain's Rodri, but Bellingham is just as deserving. Maybe even more so.
