The England star's campaign ended in heartbreak, but he needs to be recognised for a historic season
After 16 years of scarcely broken dominance, barring a major miracle, neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi will ever win the Ballon d'Or ever again. Last year represented a misty-eyed victory lap for this era, with Messi's 2022 World Cup triumph earning him a final taste of world football's greatest individual prize.
In 2024, we will enter a brave new world, with a small group of frontrunners in line to win their first-ever Ballon d'Or. Vinicius Jr, Real Madrid's Champions League final hero, is the favourite heading into Monday's ceremony in Paris – especially if you ask Rio Ferdinand. However, unlike in previous years, his ascension is far from a foregone conclusion.
Had he replicated his big-game performances for Brazil at Copa America, and Spain hadn't won Euro 2024, he might have had a clean run at the Golden Ball. But these events have strengthened calls for Rodri, Lamine Yamal or even Dani Carvajal to get the nod this year.
Then there's the looming presence of Jude Bellingham. For months, he seemed perfectly placed to become the first English Ballon d'Or winner since apple-core throwing enthusiast Michael Owen back in 2001. But his own chances were dented by a less than explosive end to the season and an ultimately disappointing European Championship.
Recency bias be damned, though. To entirely dismiss Bellingham as a possible Ballon d'Or winner would be to completely ignore him taking the world by storm before Christmas. As such, he must be considered a contender ahead of the trophy being handed out.
GettyExtraordinary pressure
It's hard to imagine the sort of pressure Bellingham was under heading into the 2023-24 season. Aged 20, just a few years on from turning out in the Championship for hometown side Birmingham City, the midfielder had been bought for close to £100 million ($131m) by the biggest footballing institution on the planet.
Indeed, during his first press conference as a Real Madrid player, he confessed that his "heart was close to stopping" when he first heard about the possibility of making a move to Santiago Bernabeu. He did little to temper expectations for himself either, taking Zinedine Zidane's old No.5 shirt and immediately vowing to help bring home trophies, following Los Blancos falling short in La Liga and the Champions League the prior campaign.
"A club like Madrid and its fans and the people who work for the club deserve to have trophies every year. That is the standard I want to help the club reach, where they can compete for these honours very closely every year," he said.
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This context is important, as it makes what came next seem otherworldly in its brilliance. Despite all of the noise surrounding his arrival, Bellingham immediately began dominating La Liga. A goal just 36 minutes into his league debut, a 2-0 victory over Athletic Club, set the tone for a surreal first month.
During those opening weeks it seemed as if Bellingham would simply never stop scoring. Playing just behind unconventional 'strikers' Rodrygo and Vinicius, he followed up his debut goal with a brace against Almeria and crucial winners in narrow victories over Celta Vigo and Getafe.
By this point, Bellingham-mania was running wild in the Spanish capital. Shirts carrying his name and iconic No.5 were spreading like a virus around Madrid and beyond, and his unabashed confidence was a throwback to the Galactico era.
"I think I'm 10-times better as a player than last season," he said in August 2023. "I'm learning from these players. The level here is so high, I'm like a sponge taking it all in."
It's hard to overstate how impressive this start to life at Madrid was. Many marquee signings – Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, even Kaka – have wilted under the Bernabeu lights over the years. Not Bellingham, though. Within just a few weeks he had established himself as Ancelotti's most important attacking contributor, helping fill the gaping hole left by Karim Benzema's departure that same summer. Not bad for a central midfielder.
Getty Images SportAmong the best in the world
If Bellingham had continued scoring at the same rate as he had in his first four games, he would have finished the campaign with 53 goals from 42 appearances. As one might expect, he didn't quite manage to reach those dizzying heights, but his output was still world-class as he helped Madrid win La Liga and the Champions League.
In the end, he contributed 27 goals for club and country. Subtract penalties and he managed only two fewer league goals than Erling Haaland, while comfortably hitting the back of the net more frequently than Madrid team-mate and principal Ballon d'Or rival Vinicius.
Bellingham also chipped in with 17 assists. This included setting up Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford during England's impressive 3-1 victory over Italy at Wembley, while he laid on Vinicius' winner in the Champions League final at the same venue.
Clearly, these goal and assist tallies are not comparable to prime Messi and Ronaldo levels. But if out-of-context statistics are your thing, Bellingham has the strongest argument of any of the players who have been mentioned as realistic contenders for this year's Ballon d'Or.
Getty Images SportComing in clutch
It wasn't just this reliability in the final third that made Bellingham's 2023-24 season so special, though. Over the course of the campaign, he also strengthened his reputation as one of the most clutch performers around. Time and time again, when club and country were moments from disaster he would single-handedly drag them back from the abyss.
This began back in September. With Madrid drawing 1-1 against local rivals Getafe, Lucas Vazquez fired off a Hail-Mary shot from outside the box in the 96th minute. And while team-mates and opponents alike watched on, Bellingham was alive, following in the effort and tapping home a dramatic winner when goalkeeper David Soria spilled the initial effort. It was a fine example of the midfielder understanding exactly what it meant to play for Los Blancos – the team that is never dead.
"I saw [Real Madrid comebacks] a lot of times on TV when I was a kid," Bellingham said after the game. "I remember thinking 'they won't be able to do it' and in the end they did. Now I'm here and I'm seeing it. I never thought we were going to lose, I looked at the players' faces and there was no panic."
Just a few weeks later, Bellingham further lived up to Madrid's unbeatable mystique. This time, Union Berlin were their unfortunate victims. Playing in their first-ever Champions League group game, the German minnows were tantalisingly close to securing one of their most significant results ever.
Bellingham, though, had other ideas. Again, he showed his poacher's instincts, popping up in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage-time to score another close-range dagger. It was more of the same for England in March when Bellingham was the Three Lions' saviour in a friendly meeting with Belgium, netting a 94th-minute leveller – but that was nothing compared to his contribution in the Euro 2024 round of 16.
With a thoroughly underwhelming England literally seconds from a humiliating exit at the hands of Slovakia, something astounding happened. A Kyle Walker long throw was guided into Bellingham general's orbit by Marc Guehi. A split second and lightning overhead kick later, Bellingham was wheeling away. "Who else?!" he asked the world. Who else, indeed?