Ballon d'Or 2018: Predicting the top 10
We are less than 2 weeks away from the Ballon d'Or 2018 gala and the votes have been counted. Every fan, pundit and footballer have their opinion on why their pick should win but this year, there might be a surprise winner.
For the last 10 years, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been winning it and nobody has actually come close to stopping them. Many might argue about Wesley Sneijder and Frank Ribery getting 'robbed' but all that is in the past now.
This year, the duopoly is finally set to end. Luka Modric has taken home the UEFA Best Player of the year award and The Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year award as well. However, winning the Ballon d'Or might not be that simple.
France Football had included a fan poll on their website and given it an official look too but after around 700,000 votes, they decided to take it down. The runaway winner, at that point, did not match that of the pundits and footballers and thus, they decided not to go ahead with it.
The votes just before the poll's deletion stood at:
#1 – Lionel Messi: 48% (338,110)
#2 – Mohamed Salah: 31% (218,362)
#3 – Cristiano Ronaldo: 8% (56,351)
#4 – Luka Modric & Kylian Mbappe: 2% (14,087 each)
Now, only the votes by a jury of journalists are set to be counted. Here are our predictions for the top 10 after the votes are counted:
#10 Harry Kane
Harry Kane is easily one of the best strikers in the world right. The Tottenham star has been scoring consistently for club and country but his trophies section still remains empty.
He does have personal trophies like Premier League Golden Boot and also the World Cup Golden Boot but when it comes to the big ones, he's got nothing. Legends of the game are constantly asking him to switch clubs to achieve that part of his career but the Englishman is staying loyal to Spurs.
He will go down as one of the best Tottenham has ever produced but for him to make a big impression and win the Ballon d'Or, he must win some trophies for his club – which is very difficult to do at Tottenham right now.