The month of November is here and that means we are less than 30 days away from the annual Ballon d’Or ceremony. For many years, this ceremony was turned into the annual Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi event. However, this year, it will be very different. Players from numerous clubs and various positions have all been performing in an extraordinary fashion recently and right now, it is almost impossible to say who will win the coveted trophy on the 29th of November. Five players from Chelsea had been named to the 30-man shortlist. Those individuals were Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Romelu Lukaku and Mason Mount.
The coveted Ballon d’Or ceremony is just a few weeks away and this could be the last time predicting the final power rankings to see where Chelsea’s stars land.
Let’s just get this out of the way first: Azpilicueta, Kante, Lukaku and Mount have little-to-no chance of winning the award as it stands. The main candidate for the Blues is Jorginho. The Italian has been one of the favourites to lift the award for months now, but recent speculation and allegations might put his chances to risk, as well. There have been leaks after leaks which show one of two men winning the Ballon d’Or: Robert Lewandowski and Messi. While these leaks are most likely faked and photoshopped, supports can see that the general mass believes that either one of them will be winning the whole thing.
Therefore, what chance does Chelsea’s Italian maestro have? Can Jorginho finally become the first player in club history to lift the coveted individual award? Will the midfield position and defensive work finally be given credit by France Football? These are the questions that will be answered as we look into the final power rankings before the Ballon d’Or ceremony actually announces the winner.
Thus, without any further ado, here are the final Ballon d’Or power rankings:
5. N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
This one was a tough decision to make. On one hand, Kante has been one of the most consistent players since his return from injury last season, but on the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo has continued to make huge waves all around the footballing world. While Kante was being paraded by Chelsea fans and French nationals as the next Ballon d’Or winner, France’s premature exit in the Euros deeply hurt his chances. On top of that, he has faced a nagging injury problem this season, which kept him from being included in the Nations League semifinals and final. For these reasons, a lot of people are expecting Ronaldo to take the fifth spot on the list.
Although Ronaldo has been scoring regularly and saving Manchester United from humiliating defeats, Kante has been silently helping his team, as well. The lovable Frenchman is still considered one of the best central midfielders in the world and only Jorginho can potentially get a starting nod over him in the Chelsea team. Ronaldo’s Man United is struggling in the Premier League and in the Champions League. Meanwhile, Kante’s Chelsea is at the top of the table in the English top flight and performing well in the UCL too.
Fans must also keep in mind the amazing contribution by Kante in last season’s UCL quarterfinals, semifinals and final. He was undoubtedly the best player in the knockout stages as he kept winning Man of the Match trophies. His superhuman ability to keep on running and his superb interception skills have helped out the Blues a lot. The Ballon d’Or committee should recognize those contributions. He will not win the award due to France failing as a team in the Euros, but he should still be in the top five over Ronaldo, who only won the Italian Super Cup.
4. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
This one was another tough choice between Karim Benzema of Real Madrid and Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City. On one hand, there is the PFA Player’s Player of the Season for last campaign, but on the other hand, there is one of the best strikers in the world. The latter is also in the form of his life right now. De Bruyne is one of the five people nominated from Manchester City on this year’s Ballon d’Or shortlist, and he has won the PFA Player’s Player of the Season for the second time in a row. He arguably represents the best chance for a City player to win the individual award, but Benzema’s recent records will give the Madrid man an edge.
Benzema could not stop Messi from winning the Pichichi trophy last season, but he was one of the highest-scoring strikers in La Liga. He scored six goals in 10 UCL appearances, as well. He was the sole reason why Madrid was in the title race with Atletico Madrid until the end of the season and he should get some recognition for that. This season, Vinicius Junior has stepped up to assist but Benzema has stepped up his game even more. He has already scored 11 goals in 13 appearances across all competitions and has also provided eight assists so far, as well.
These are incredible stats for a target man and that is why he will definitely end up in the top five positions. Although De Bruyne won the league last season and even took City to the Champions League final, Belgium failed in the Euros again. It also let go of a 2-0 lead against France in the Nations League semifinal. Apart from that, Madrid has been rallying for Benzema to win the Ballon d’Or and although that publicity won’t win him the title, he will surely end up in a very high spot.
3. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
After much deliberation between third place and second place, we have decided that Robert Lewandowski deserves a third-place finish. This is not based on his performance, rather the exquisite achievements of those rated higher on the list. Lewandowski is arguably the most intimidating striker on the planet at the moment and there is no stopping him. Bayern Munich is on a rampage right now and the trail of destruction is being led by the Polish warrior, Lewandowski. The striker has already scored 22 goals this season in just 16 appearances and it does not seem like he will stop anytime soon. He had a record-breaking season in 2020/21 but he might just outdo that record if he continues with this form.
If the Ballon d’Or committee decides to take the 2019/20 season into consideration, as well—seeing as the award was not handed out due to COVID-19—there is no doubt that the Polish forward will win the award handily. However, as things stand, even though he has been an absolute machine in front of the goal, there are two players who have achieved more in the last season. That duo is doing well enough this season to fend off the magnificent Munich talisman. Lewandowski broke the Bundesliga goal record last season and is on his way to breaking his own record. He has already scored eight goals in the UCL and needs just nine more to break Ronaldo’s record.
The month of November is still left for the Bayern striker and if he keeps scoring consistently, who knows, he might even go on to win the whole thing. However, for now, he will only get third place. This is because Bayern failed to get past the quarterfinals in the UCL last season and Poland did not do much in the Euros either. International tournaments hold a lot of weight and since all Lewandowski won was domestic trophies, he can only be awarded third place.
2. Jorginho (Chelsea)
As a Chelsea fan, this was quite a hard decision to make seeing as I want Jorginho to take home the biggest individual award there is to win. The Ballon d’Or should take into account the importance of a player like Jorginho to both club and country. However, stats, numbers, politics and popularity have always been a part of this award and that is why I do not believe that the Italian maestro can end up winning the award. His achievements with the Blues and Italy are unrivaled, but when it comes down to raw stats, he does not have those on his side. Apart from that, the Ballon d’Or committee has always favoured attackers—specifically goalscoring forwards—so it is hard to see a defensive midfielder winning it.
Although Jorginho might not win the award, he should come close to the winner in terms of votes. The player did the unthinkable, he became the conductor of the game and became an even better overall midfielder than Kante in the eyes of many. Even though he is not the strongest or the fastest player on the field, he is still a menace on the pitch and the one thing that makes him better than the rest is his footballing intelligence. Jorginho knows exactly what to do and when to do it, he does not make any risky plays that could jeopardize his team.
Jorginho has come a long way since his early days with the west London side and last season, he managed to win the UEFA Champions League, Euro 2020 and to top it off, he won the UEFA Super Cup this year. He won all the European competitions at one time. He was also named UEFA’s Player of the Year and he has a good chance of winning the FIFA Best Men’s Player of the Year, as well. However, when it comes to the Ballon d’Or, there is only one man who can seemingly win it.
1. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain/Barcelona)
The one man who is almost guaranteed to win the Ballon d’Or every year is none other than the best player in the world, Messi. The Argentine legend is the only player who can take this year’s trophy away from Jorginho and as much as it hurts me to write this, Messi will probably be lifting his seventh Ballon d’Or title at the end of the month. Even though Jorginho was great for Chelsea and won all of the European tournaments, Messi had a stellar individual season with Barcelona in 2020/21. He even won his first international trophy. This alone makes it a huge achievement for the player on a statistical level, as well as on a more personal and sentimental level.
Not only did Messi pick up his fifth Pichichi trophy in a row, but he also managed to win the Best Player of the Tournament award in the 2021 CONMEBOL Copa America. He was amazing in La Liga as he scored 30 goals in domestic play alone. Barcelona managed to finish in the third position solely due to Messi’s amazing form. He was the one saving Ronald Koeman from the sack and now that he is no longer with Barca, the club is struggling in a mid-table position.
Apart from the Copa America title, Messi also won the Copa del Rey last season. However, he did lose the Supercopa de Espana against Athletic Bilbao. Messi is currently the favourite to win, but his start with Paris Saint-Germain has been mediocre at best. He has scored only three goals in eight appearances across all tournaments and this could end up affecting his chances. Still, as mentioned before, Ballon d’Or and Messi have a special connection and popularity also plays a big part in influencing the award’s voting. Thus, as things stand, Messi is the most likely candidate to win the trophy followed by Jorginho and Lewandowski.
Who do you believe will win the Ballon d’Or? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!