Bellingham and Vinicius Jr. Maintain Lead in 2024 Ballon d'Or Race Despite Challenges

• Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior are still the top contenders for the 2024 Ballon d’Or award despite their recent struggles
• Both Real Madrid stars are yet to hit their best form at the European Championship and Copa America respectively for England and Brazil
• Euro 2024 and Copa America are set to play a huge role in who gets their hands on football’s most prestigious individual accolade

Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior remain top contenders for the 2024 Ballon d’Or award, despite facing challenges during this summer’s international tournaments with England and Brazil.

Both Real Madrid stars have performed below par at Euro 2024 and Copa America respectively thereby casting doubts on their Ballon d’Or chances despite winning the UEFA Champions League this year.

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According to GOAL, the Copa America and Euro 2024 tournaments will play a significant role in who ends up dethroning Lionel Messi as the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner when the prestigious award ceremony takes place later this year.

Kylian Mbappe, Toni Kroos, Jamal Musiala, and Messi are some of the players with an outside chance to win this year’s award depending on how well their teams perform at this summer’s international tournaments.

Argentina and Messi have started the Copa America in fine fettle and the 37-year-old eight-time Ballon d’Or winner looks on course to lead the Albiceleste to a historic third successive major tournament triumph.

Here, Sports Brief along with Planet Football take a look at the power rankings of the 2024 Ballon d’Or award, disclosing the top 10 footballers on the leaderboard.

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2024 Ballon d’Or top 10 contenders

10. Cristiano Ronaldo

9. Federico Valverde

8. Florian Wirtz

7. Lautaro Martinez

6. Harry Kane

5. Lionel Messi

4. Kylian Mbappe

3. Toni Kroos

2. Vinicius Junior

1. Jude Bellingham

Messi sneaks into Ballon d’Or debate

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Messi can mount a charge for a ninth Ballon d’Or title later this year after Bellingham and Vinicius looked pale in their respective international competitions.

Fans are convinced that winning the Copa America with Argentina could put him back right in contention.

Messi's 12 goals and 14 assists might not have the same pull when scored in the MLS as they would have had in a European league, but winning Copa America will give the Argentina captain some edge.