2018 Ballon d'Or

The 2018 Ballon d'Or was the 63rd annual award ceremony recognising the best footballer in the world for 2018. The winners were announced on 3 December 2018,^[1][2] and for the first time in its history, the Ballon d'Or Féminin and Kopa Trophy were awarded to the best female footballer and male under-21 footballer, respectively.^[3] Luka Modrić, who was integral to Real Madrid's Champions League victory and Croatia's journey to the 2018 FIFA World Cup final,^[4] was awarded the Ballon d'Or. His win meant that it was the first time since Kaká in 2007 that a player other than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo won the award, ending the 10-year Messi–Ronaldo dominance.^[5]

2018 Ballon d'Or
2018 Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modrić
Date	3 December 2018 (2018-12-03)
Location	Paris, France
Country	France
Presented by	France Football
Highlights
Ballon d'Or	Luka Modrić (1st award)
Ballon d'Or Féminin	Ada Hegerberg (1st award)
Kopa Trophy	Kylian Mbappé (1st award)
Website	www.francefootball.fr
← 2017 · Ballon d'Or · 2019 →

Ballon d'Or

The nominees for the awards were announced on 8 October 2018.^[3]

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Points
1	Luka Modrić	Real Madrid	753 [6]
2	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid Juventus	476
3	Antoine Griezmann	Atlético Madrid	414
4	Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	347
5	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	280
6	Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	188
7	Raphaël Varane	Real Madrid	121
8	Eden Hazard	Chelsea	119
9	Kevin De Bruyne	Manchester City	29
10	Harry Kane	Tottenham Hotspur	25
11	N'Golo Kanté	Chelsea	24
12	Neymar	Paris Saint-Germain	19
13	Luis Suárez	Barcelona	17
14	Thibaut Courtois	Chelsea Real Madrid	12
15	Paul Pogba	Manchester United	9
16	Sergio Agüero	Manchester City	7
17	Gareth Bale	Real Madrid	6
	Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	6
19	Roberto Firmino	Liverpool	4
	Ivan Rakitić	Barcelona	4
	Sergio Ramos	Real Madrid	4
22	Edinson Cavani	Paris Saint-Germain	3
	Sadio Mané	Liverpool	3
	Marcelo	Real Madrid	3
25	Alisson	Roma Liverpool	2
	Mario Mandžukić	Juventus	2
	Jan Oblak	Atlético Madrid	2
28	Diego Godín	Atlético Madrid	1
29	Isco	Real Madrid	0
	Hugo Lloris	Tottenham Hotspur	0

Ballon d'Or Féminin

Main article: Ballon d'Or Féminin

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Points
1	Ada Hegerberg	Lyon	136[7]
2	Pernille Harder	VfL Wolfsburg	130
3	Dzsenifer Marozsán	Lyon	86
4	Marta	Orlando Pride	77
5	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars Perth Glory	61
6	Lucy Bronze	Lyon	51
7	Amandine Henry	Lyon	34
	Wendie Renard	Lyon	34
9	Megan Rapinoe	Seattle Reign	30
10	Lindsey Horan	Portland Thorns	28
11	Lieke Martens	Barcelona	26
12	Saki Kumagai	Lyon	25
13	Amel Majri	Lyon	9
14	Fran Kirby	Chelsea	5
15	Christine Sinclair	Portland Thorns	4

Kopa Trophy

Main article: Kopa Trophy

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Points
1	Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	110
2	Christian Pulisic	Borussia Dortmund	31
3	Justin Kluivert	Ajax Roma	18
4	Rodrygo	Santos	12
	Gianluigi Donnarumma	Milan	12
6	Trent Alexander-Arnold	Liverpool	6
7	Patrick Cutrone	Milan	5
8	Houssem Aouar	Lyon	4
9	Ritsu Doan	Groningen	0
	Amadou Haidara	Red Bull Salzburg	0

Controversy

Cristiano Ronaldo was widely expected to win the 2018 Ballon d’Or following another successful season with Real Madrid, including a third consecutive UEFA Champions League title.^[8] However, in the months preceding the award, he faced renewed rape allegations dating back to 2009 when a Las Vegas police investigation was reopened, generating significant media attention.^[9] Although he denied the accusations,^[10] and prosecutors ultimately decided not to pursue criminal charges,^[11] the controversy adversely affected his public image. EA Sports removed his image from promotional materials for the FIFA 19 video game,^[12] while sponsors such as Nike publicly stated they were “deeply concerned,”^[13] and DAZN indicated it was monitoring the situation closely.^[14] Analysts, football fans and commentators have suggested that these developments, combined with a broader desire to recognise players outside of the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry, may have influenced the voting process and ultimately contributed to Luka Modrić’s victory.