Manchester City midfielder Rodri and Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati have won the 2024 Ballon d’Or awards to complete a men’s and women’s double for Spain.
Rodri, 28, beat Vinicius Junior to the top men’s award with the Real Madrid forward and team-mates Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal completing the top four.
Rodri becomes the first Premier League player to claim the award since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008.
Bonmati, one of six Barcelona Femeni players nominated for the women’s award, finished ahead of club team-mates Caroline Graham Hansen and Salma Paralluelo in the voting to retain the trophy having been named the winner in 2023. She becomes just the second women’s player to win the award in consecutive years, following team-mate Alexia Putellas.
The 26-year-old scored a career-high 19 goals across all competitions as Barcelona retained the Women’s Champions League and won a fifth straight Liga F title.
At international level, she helped Spain win the inaugural Women’s Nations League in February to add to her Women’s World Cup winner’s medal from 2023.
Rodri becomes the first Spanish winner of the men’s award for over 60 years having won the Premier League title, Club World Cup and European Championship during an outstanding campaign for club and country.
Vinicius Jr was widely expected to win his first Ballon d’Or after scoring 24 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions last season as Madrid won the La Liga title and a record-extending 15th Champions League.
However, it emerged ahead of the ceremony that he and the club had not travelled to Paris to attend in the belief he had missed out.
Bellingham, who was also absent, finished in third after scoring 23 goals and adding 13 assists as he won two major trophies in his debut season at Madrid.
Lamine Yamal, meanwhile, won the Kopa Trophy — the award for the best under-21 player.
The Barcelona teenager is the first player under the age of 18 to win the award having made history at Euro 2024 as the youngest-ever player to score at a European Championship. Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo finished third.
Emiliano Martinez won the Yashin Trophy, given to the best goalkeeper of the season, for the second consecutive year. The 32-year-old was a mainstay in the Aston Villa side that qualified for the Champions League before playing every game in Argentina’s Copa America triumph in the summer.
The Gerd Muller award for the most goals in 2023-24 was shared by Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe, who both scored 52 times for club and country.
USWNT coach Emma Hayes was named women’s coach of the year after guiding Chelsea to the Women’s Super League title and the U.S. to Olympic gold. Carlo Ancelotti won the men’s coach of the year award after leading Real Madrid to the La Liga title and a record-extending 15th Champions League.
Spain forward Jennifer Hermoso won the Socrates award for her humanitarian work.
(Top photos: Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images, David Ramos/Getty Images)
