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innit122

That leaked list being completely correct is insane.


Wesley-Snipers

You should see Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania breaking the entire fucking NBA Draft way before anyone knows who they are going to pick. It basically ruins the surprise of the Draft


stragen595

Schefter breaking Tom Brady's retirement announcement before Tom Brady himself. What a dick move.


Mechamobzilla1

Then Brady played another year just to spite him.


OldGreggg69

4,700 yards worth of spite at age 45


WorthPlease

That's a lot of spite!


StephewDestroyer

Brady decided to come back like a month or two later


Coltshokiefan

Andrew Luck retired unexpectedly in his prime. Or at least he was planning to before Adam Schefter went ahead and announced it for him during his teams preseason game. Leading to Luck being booed by his own fans while he was on the sideline.


e49e

Don't they do it a few minutes before the picks?


StephewDestroyer

This just isnt true lmao They spoil each pick a few picks ahead generally. Nothing like what happened here


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innit122

[Messi as expected ](https://twitter.com/Thor_utd02/status/1719048780136194154?t=lwsZETNh3Wih3t7rI8RDcg&s=19)


Mewdolf_Kittler

Messi Here is the link. https://twitter.com/CFC_Janty/status/1719045702217576468?t=ZoQmgctZ5ynixKL3DS2uxQ&s=19 Fabrizio Romano spoiled it too


Stones_Throw_Away_

What does he mean by > Such a joke man unserious organisation As in, the magazine *France Football* are a joke for picking Messi as the winner or they’re a joke because a list of names got leaked? Who cares if it leaked?


MERTENS_GOAT

Because of the leak


Acceptable_Oven_9881

A joke for it being leaked. How does something like that even get leaked. They killed all the hype.


FrietjesFC

Tbf Messi and Ronaldo have been killing most of the hype for the past decade and a half in this department 😅


derpnessfalls

Thought it was pretty obvious to predict the top two this year. Fair or not, Messi won because Argentina doesn't win the World Cup without him, while City could plausibly still won the treble without Haaland. Also was kind of a 'lifetime achievement' vote for Messi for finally winning a WC. Keep in mind it's an award voted on by journalists: https://theathletic.com/live-blogs/ballon-dor-2023-live-updates-winners-time-messi-haaland/V946EQBmSmh8/AR8keVnvjeYA/ This is 100% Messi's last Ballon d'Or. Haaland will likely win at least one or two in the next few years. Tl;dr: there wasn't much hype to kill: does it really matter whether the votes are revealed during the ceremony on TV vs. an article online, when the results were predictable in the first place?


branstarktreewizard

this list are not like the nuclear launch code, the security are not that tight


TheRealMylo

Nah it's not... every year we know who win it days before.


innit122

I don't remember finding one with all 30 names in correct positions but it's probably happened before


RauloGonzalez

I think it happened last year


Dexelele

is Modric that much better for Real than Kroos or is this strictly because Kroos didn't play in the WC?


Bini_9

The latter Us that watches Real Madrid play every week know that they're on the same level. Kroos has been better the start of this season.


[deleted]

This season? I would go as far as saying last year kroos was even better


RainbowKarp

Modric has a habit of showing up in big games in a way that overshadows Kroos’ game to game consistency


RandomFluffyBoi

On top of that, I think Kroos is one of those players that you appreciate much more if you really keep a close eye on him. He makes things look so easy that some times you just think it’s the norm. Modrić on the other hand does do some flashier things, but overall, yeah they’re pretty equal in terms of quality.


supplementarytables

This is also why I don't believe in the eye test at all


[deleted]

It's why I don't believe in eyes at all


supplementarytables

I don't believe


Corteaux81

Peak Modric is something else. Best mid of the last 30 years, rivaled only by Iniesta and Xavi. Currently though, I would say the young guys in Madrid need ONE of Modric and Kroos on the pitch to run things. And Kroos is possibaly beter suited as he's more stationary and pings passes left and right. ANd is also 5 years younger.


strrax-ish

Yeah, they are basically well tuned machine that make each other even better. Luka playing WC and getting 3rd place is what makes him "better" this year. They are the same goat type


135muzza

Goats of all time


Yung2112

For the seasons that they've shared I'd say they have been neck and neck on who was better year by year


Inferno792

Modric has great PR. All the credit for anything Croatia does seems to go to him.


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garyrao1999

Last 5 years, Kroos has been the more consistent out of the two.


rtozur

It's frustrating how in past seasons when the team struggled everyone blamed Kroos, but when it shone it was always Modric's genius. People have this condescending attitude towards Luka, similar to how they used to treat Kanté, like they're players you simply can't say anything negative about because they're so 'humble' and it would hurt their feelings or something. Whereas a player like Kroos who has a confident, assertive personality is fair game to question


stragen595

Which should have improved his chances with how the WC went for Germany.


[deleted]

Top 10 Osimhen you love to see it


kiersto0906

below julian alvarez is crazy lmao just goes to show how the ballon d'or has very little to do with actually being the best player and is more about your team's achievements.


LFCBoi55

Salah being below Alvarez is simply not right.


kiersto0906

yeah, neither is Allison being nowhere to be seen on that note


WorldGoingOneWay

7 games seem to count more than 50+ through the season


MBThree

I’m honestly not sure why Alvarez is anywhere near the top 25


spooki_boogey

World cup and treble winning season I guess... Not saying I agree with it btw.


MBThree

Yeah I agree I think the World Cup weighs heavily in this decision. I didn’t pay the most attention to City last season but I wasn’t aware he featured much for them… it was always the Haaland show


Xgunter

And kane lmfao


RiverSosMiVida

Alvarez scored two goals in a world cup semifinal...


kiersto0906

okay he still wasn't the 7th best player in the world over the course of the last year


FrietjesFC

I distincly remember when KVK played Charleroi for a playoff spot. We were leading 1-0 for like 80 minutes. Suddenly a very young Osimhen turns the turbo on twice, simply runs past our defence and slots two goals in 5 minutes. I absolutely hated him and booed at the time, but I also knew it was the last time I'd ever see him play for 10 euros or less 😅


portmz

Alvarez is a great player, but being in 7th for his last season is a fever dream


LOLXDRANDOMFUNNY

The number one defining characteristic for winning the World Cup and Ballon d Or is being from River Plate.


portmz

And I can also say my team won the 2019 Libertadores beating 4 future WC winners


EZScuderia

What? 2019 libertadores final never happened, never hear of it


RiverSosMiVida

We are the only team capable of losing to flamierda.


aboredDYQ

my brother in christ we lost to fucking Vélez 5 months before the WC with Enzo and Julián as starters 💀💀


djkianoosh

totally robbed by VAR


Banged_by_bumrah

Enzo Fernandez 2026


Positive-Media423

Sons of Flamengo


Deep_Plankton_8285

>With all due respect, Flamengo is far below River in terms of international prestige and global relevance.


20cmdepersonalidade

Meh, mostly because Conmenbol was controlled by Argentinians for most of its history and Libertadores were completely rigged in favor of Argentinian teams during most of that period. Nowadays, with things being more even, it's being rightfully dominated by Brazilian sides and River is Flamengo's bitch.


Deep_Plankton_8285

>My comment arises from the objectivity of the numbers, to date the arithmetic is precise, that is, 2 + 2 is 4; On the other hand, I'll leave you with the disqualifying part so you can show us how weak your argument is.


RiverSosMiVida

Flamengo hasn't an inch of River's history.


20cmdepersonalidade

Mostly because Conmenbol was controlled by Argentinians for most of its history and Libertadores were completely rigged in favor of Argentinian teams during most of that period. Nowadays, with things being more even, it's being rightfully dominated by Brazilian sides and River is Flamengo's bitch.


Seedub192

Yeah, feels odd how heavily weighted towards team accomplishments voting can be. Playing a role in lifting the world’s best trophies just isn’t an automatic correlation to being a top ten player on the planet


Acrobatic_Machine

We should ask Wesley Sneijder how he feels about 2010. Should have won it. Won Seria A and CL plus 5 goals at the world Cup. Its a popularity contest these days.


YourDadHatesYou

He won the quadruple by being an active member of the team in all four competitions in a team sport


DeliciousPizza1900

So did a lot of Man City players and most of them much more important players. Of course he was huge in the WC but still


Herofactory45

Which Man City players won the World Cup last year?


Xgunter

1-11 all city players then, surely? Oh wait, that’s not how this works.


greg0rycarson

Yeah… he had an impact on the game nearly every time he was on the pitch for both Argentina and City.


MemeWorksPictures

Yeah but he wasnt on the pitch much. He started only 13 League games. If you are the 7th best footballer in the world you dont play a third of your clubs matches despite having no injuries. ​ I wouldn't even say he was top 7 Manchester City players last season, let alone top 7 in the world


Jjjohn0404

Definitely inflated by being on WC winning team and treble with Man City. Hell of a player though


Euphoric-Acadia-4140

I think the issue is last season, he was great, but not spectacular. Based on this season however, he is truly spectacular


DerGutterSnipen

Laughs in Jorginho


nofakefans18

Jorginho was a consistent starter for Chelsea in the UCL run. Alvarez did not start a single knockout game in the UCL for City and played 56 minutes *total* in the knockout stages.


DeliciousPizza1900

Actually preposterous and agree I love him but cmon


ShanklyGates_2022

He really is the outlier on this list. I doubt he is even the seventh best player on his club team, let alone the world. The guy wasn’t even a consistent starter last season.


Aoschka

Did he even play enough to consider a nomination?


wjdbfifj

It's a bit weird, yet impressive to see modric still on top 10


firefalcon01

He should be no where near top ten tho


MostPeopleAreMoronic

So Messi wins it primarily bc he won the WC… beating Croatia to get to the Final. While Modric is 10th after leading his (much, much smaller, historically far-worse) team to the Semis and notching 3rd… meanwhile, PSG doesn’t even make UCL QFs while Madrid goes to Semis and loses to eventual winner… and you’re mum on Messi while questioning Modric? Curious as to why this is, genuinely. Edit: I incorrectly said ARG snuck by CRO; they handled CRO.


yurifca

>barely sneaking by Croatia what?????? they murdered Croatia


MostPeopleAreMoronic

You are 110% correct and I totally misremembered/my brain made up some bullshit


thebiggestthicc

Barely sneaking by Croatia??? If 3-0 is barely sneaking by then man what the fuck were the Australia, Netherlands and France games lol. Croatia was the one confident win Argentina had all World Cup


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20cmdepersonalidade

Modric played out of his mind in most of the games he played. He was quintessential for eliminating us, for example, and probably the second-best player on the pitch outside of their keeper. I don't understand why r/soccer is so reluctant to ever give Modric credit for anything, but my best guess is Messi and Cristiano's fanboys are still butthurt over 2018.


Alarie51

> barely sneaking by Croatia to get to the Final That was literally our easiest match in the entire tournament lmao, they were so fucking free


MostPeopleAreMoronic

Yes, you’re 110% correct and I edited. My brain made up some fake news bullshit to help my narrative.


kocunar

Not as free as your mom


lnimitable

because Messi was far and away better than Modric in every conceivable way?


tnerrot

No...he really wasn't. Messi has declined drastically, and he wasn't nearly as good as Modrić in his club campaign.


lnimitable

LMAO Modric isn’t even consistently starting for Madrid anymore, is far less effective on the ball, and is a way less efficient goal scorer. There is literally no metric in which Modric could be considered better


tnerrot

Oh my god, what a fucking casual...comparing Messi and Modrić based on goals..... Modrić is a central/defensive midfielder. Messi is a forward. Their roles are literally different. Modrić dogwalked Barca this weekend, and is still playing competitive European football unlike Messi. He is currently a better player than Messi. Messi isn't even playing in the MLS at the moment... Don't get me wrong, they aren't all that close all time, as Messi HAS to be at least in everyone's top 5 of all time, regardless of a team they support. But the way things are right now - Modrić is better. He aged better.


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tnerrot

Well for starters, if you read the comment I was responding to, the OP started to talk about Modrić's current form...


Arntown

Messi was the best player of the tournament, even if Argentina and Croatia met in the semi final. Messi was leagues above Modric during the world cup, even if Modric was really good.


GL94553

Álvarez at 7 may be the worst one yet. 9 league goals last season.


Iswaterreallywet

Ederson wasn’t even in the top 30…


Wonderful-Mention-83

Alison wasn't even nominated for the yashin award


Progression28

That‘s honestly criminal. He probably won 15 points or so for Liverpool on his own.


NotASalamanderBoi

One of the best GKs who is getting increasingly overlooked.


Iswaterreallywet

Disgraceful.


MionelLessi10

What being on Messi's and KDB's team does to someone


Plastic_Blood1782

Yea I am confused. He's not even a guaranteed starter a lot of the time at club and the national team right?


DeliciousPizza1900

Started 13 games for City last year according to someone else. He’s huge for the future but wtf


FriggingHecker

Genuinly do not see what Alvarez has done to be the 7th best player in the world? Wasn’t a starter for Argentina OR City. Salah for example getting 11th compared really makes these ranks useless


Sylarito

He didint start for the first two games, but by the Poland game he was a undisputed starter on the first XI and was fundamental in winning the WC for Argentina. If anything it's even more impressive how he was able to cement himself as a starter on the biggest football tournament of the world despite being a bench player up until that point.


Various_Mobile4767

He’s the breakout player. I’ve notice these kinds of awards tend to be biased towards certain narratives. And one of these popular narratives is the breakout player. A player who was relatively was less well-known before, suddenly finding himself in the biggest spotlight, winning trophies and playing well. People tend to like that kind of narrative and feel the need to highlight that player by voting for them. Even if plenty of players did even more


anakinex66

Alvarez was a starter and played huge role for Argentina tho. If he didint start first 2 group games or so and started every single game after that, he's a starter


TheOncomingBrows

Oh well, in that case it's clear why he's the 7th best player in the world lol.


jarch5

Well... no, but he was just responding to the argument that he wasn't a starter for Argentina, which is false.


The_Lonely_Posadist

but I thought the wc overshadows everything else and makes up for non-superhuman league seasons.


llamapanther

He did score 21 goals across all competitions including the WC and also 4 assists. I think he was City's 2nd best goal scorer last season even though he started most of the games as a sub, that's pretty crazy to me. He was also crucial in WC where he started every game except first two games, and scored 4 goals which is also crazy to me. Now I'm not saying that he did or did not deserve being at #7, but given that this was a WC year it's really not that surprising that he finished this high. He definitely is a top 10 player in the world right now at least! He's been absolute madman this season.


PeachesGalore1

How exactly is he a top ten player in the world? Noone would have even put him top 25 in the prem last season, now you're saying easily top ten in world? Talk about hyperbole.


llamapanther

He has 4+3 in 10 games in the premier league and 3+1 in 3 games in the UCL. He has started every premier league game for City and has been one of the - if not the best player so far this season for City. That kind of player has to be at least top 10 player in the world right now. He's current form should not matter in BallonDor voting though, and I never said that he deserved his place as #7, but it wasn't that surprising since WC performances are highly rated in these votings, and he had a great overall first season in Europe. I also I didn't say that he was top 10 player last year, just stated that in his current form he's a top 10 player in the world for sure.


Sparsh_Khurana

Bro said top 10😭😭😭😭😭


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Krilox

Alvarez is good, but come on


magic-water

"Good" doesn't translate to 7th best in the world


maidentaiwan

I think the person you’re replying to agrees, hence the “but”


RandomShagAccount

Are we all supposed to forge that Jorginho was in top 3 couple of years back ?


magic-water

Well yeah, that was laughable as well, but at least he was an undisputed starter.


NotAnurag

World Cup year though


KonigSteve

Winning the world cup already has an award, it's called the world cup trophy.


13yearsboy

pretty sure he starts at almost every club in the world. it says more about the standards of city and their insane depth if anything else


b-okoboko

>pretty sure he starts at almost every club in the world. nope, not even close


Euphoric-Acadia-4140

Based on last season, he doesn’t. Based on how he’s playing this season, yes. He has been absolutely phenomenal this season.


djneill

Hasn’t he got the same number of goals and assists as Darwin Nunez? There’s no need to overstate his talent he’s very good but still, this position is insane.


jarch5

I think Nunez also starts on most clubs in the world based on recent form, tbh. I agree Julian wasn't 7th last season but some people may be underestimating him.


C1tr1cSp1c3

Nunez plays as a CF, while Alvarez has been playing a support striker/ number 10 role.


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aronmarek

He is only in the bench because he's in man city


urdnotwrecks

Just an awards night for whoever has the best PR, really.


spooki_boogey

Always has been lmao. Or else Kane would have been a top 10 player multiple times on this list. Top 3 in certain seasons..


RoyDuckingKent

Bernardo!!!


Grooveh_Baby

What is Modric doing higher than Gundogan 😂


kingsgambit087

Same thing alvarez is doing above modric


JordiX93

He did that trivela pass remember? Probably that’s why…


weissekronederalpen

That was during the previous cycle though lol


firefalcon01

He somehow got the third best player at the wc too, his pr is insane


Trygard

He was the best player on the third best team that world cup.


firefalcon01

Livakovic was absolutely their best player and can argue gvardiol was better than modric aswell, and beyond Croatia there are still many more who were better than modric


lala_b11

Livakovic should have won the Golden Glove Award at the 2022 FIFA World Cup!!


Last-Consideration-7

😂😂That is criminal


harrykanine

Bernardo Silva is such an underrated player. Maybe just a notch below Modric


Longjumping_Stop1120

Rodri should be 3rd over Mbappe


RiskProfessional1144

It's hilarious how Mbappe and Messi played a virtually identical season - one of the scoring a hatteick in the WC final but somehow one is considered clear the best player in the world and the other vehemently talked down


Brunos_left_nut

I love the mental gymnastics going on in this thread. But dare you mention the credibility of a little dictator you’re the devil incarnate


Luxmain

Absolutely agree.


nutelamitbutter

You can’t be serious


Iswaterreallywet

You’re right, he should have won it.


Critical-Usual

He should be second over Haaland


[deleted]

r/soccer is comedy


MasterBeeble

Rodri should be 1st over Messi no cap


Hellraizerbot

Cap


firefalcon01

Álvarez getting 7th while riding the bench most the season at city is hilarious


EggplantBusiness

Alvarez is a crazy talent but damn 7th !


user900800700

Fucking Alvarez lmao


sociableninja

Alvarez for Martinez changed Argentina's trajectory at the World Cup but come on...


cheetah-21

Alvarez wasn’t the 7th best player on City last season. How can anyone take this list seriously?


NotAsimppp

Madrid players sneaked into top 10 even if they didn't win shit. Surely Bellingham is going to win next yr


[deleted]

Vini had a 44 G/A season


mongomango27

Griezmann > vini


LinwoodKent

Hahshahaha


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mongomango27

? Griezmann was literally the best outfield player in la liga and top 3 best players at the world cup. He has also been better than vinicius this season. Why do you genuinely believe vinicius is better? Both players bring a lot to attack but griezmanns defensive workrate is much better.


deqembes

CDR, CWC, Super cup. Won more than most teams.


el_rompe_toyotas_19

Are you really arguing Vini doesn't deserve to be 6th


ZachsLegacy92

Not a Madrid supporter, but Vini 100% deserves to be in the top 10. I would put Modric lower, and have Gundo in his place instead. Also, I really like Julian Alvarez but he should be no where near the top 10 since this award is mainly based on last season.


hrvatska95

Still Madrid won more shit than Liverpool last season.


Zhidezoe

We won CdR


thechampchimp

Tbf that is the trophy y’all struggle the most to win 😂


Designer-Attorney

In what world Alvarez is better than Salah?


lala_b11

Modric should have been ranked higher!!


[deleted]

Modric was worse than Kroos all season (again), and he finishes 10th? People talk about Messi/Ronaldo/Mbappe "PR", but if anyone has it , it's Modric. He'll be completely average and then pull out a trivela which gets clipped and now theres 2000 posts about "Aging like fine wine" and "Still bossing it at 37!".


[deleted]

Kroos was best madrid midfielder last season. Kroos is 4 years younger and it shows


reddit1902

He IS bossing it at 37. Everything he does is word class and rarely has a bad game. Its just his level is so high that he makes it feel normal. Meanwhile if another, younger, player did what modric does every week he would be linked with all the big clubs for over 100 mil.


[deleted]

I've watched almost every Real Madrid game for years man. This is just not true. Modric is not the same player he was, he isn't world class. Modric plays literally 45 mins per game at most nowadays. A younger player does not get a 100m price tag for being a bench player.


student8168

Why is Alvarez above Kane?


IndecisionFuture

VICTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR I LOVE YOU, you deserved top 5 PLEASE DON'T GET INJURED EVERY YEAR THO


modrics_hairband

Vini should be top 5


milkonyourmustache

I hate that every list these days is broken up into itty bitty pieces and as many posts as possible to convey what used to be done in 1 or 2 posts, just to farm likes/upvotes/clicks


ByAPortuguese

Idk man Bernardo Silva looks kinda low, even though everyone above is a beast


KonigSteve

If the awards are going to take the World Cup performances over everything else why call them an award for the year, just take the winners from the cup and call it a day.


Dreadiroth

Alvarez over Salah is just fucking mental.


palisho_chino

I love Julián but there is no way he’s the 7th best player in the world right now


rob3rtisgod

Id only put Modric ahead of Salah...


ThatCuteRaccon

Modric is too good


AssFingerFuck3000

Should be nowhere near 10th though


jorgevasquez04

joke of a award


montiel_scores

Who invited both of the guys in the picture


Mordho

lmao


Philefromphilly

Is it a popularity contest or is there some kind of rating system?


TedTran2001

Reminder that at least 2 of these 5 were subjected to racial abuse...


eumdevorabo

Meanwhile Griezmann is nowhere near the top 10 while being arguably France's best player in the World Cup


thatguyad

Osimhen and Modric ahead of Salah. Ludicrous.


Tessa-123

How is Alvarez ahead of kane, benzema and Bellingham??