Ballon d'Or 2024 Power Rankings: Rodri rises to No.1 as Real Madrid boycott of Paris ceremony suggest Vinicius Jr has come up short in Golden Ball race

After a season headlined by him finally getting his hands on the World Cup, Lionel Messi took home his eighth Ballon d'Or after picking up the 2023 prize in Paris back in October. The footballing world has long since moved on, though, and debate has raged over the identity of the 2024 winner ever since the spring.

It was an intense race. Along with the usual domestic ups and downs, 2023-24 was a campaign that saw the majority of the globe's best players taking part in international tournaments, including the European Championship and Copa America.

So after a year that was defined by the battle between Messi's tournament success for Argentina and Erling Haaland's season-long superiority at Manchester City, how much of a bearing on the 2024 Ballon d'Or race will those international competitions have?

GOAL has been here every step of the way to track the contenders for the biggest individual prize the game has to offer. So who do we think will come out on top? With the nominees all confirmed, here's how we see things playing out at the ceremony in Paris on Monday, October 28...