Rodri made history as the first Manchester City player to win the Ballon d’Or, securing 1,170 out of 1,485 possible points from the 100 voting journalists, finishing ahead of Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr.
Rodri received first-place votes from nearly half of the journalists, with notable support from England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and the Netherlands. Vinicius Jr. followed with 35 first-place votes, including backing from Brazil, France, and Spain. Jude Bellingham, Rodri’s Real Madrid rival, garnered five first-place votes, while Dani Carvajal received four and the retired Toni Kroos managed two. City’s Erling Haaland earned one first-place vote from South Korea, while Ademola Lookman, Kylian Mbappe, and Lautaro Martinez also received one each.
This year’s point system awarded 15 points for first place, 12 for second, down to one point for tenth place—a shift from the previous system, which limited voters to a top-five selection.
A few unique situations affected the voting results. Syria’s journalist did not vote, leaving only 99 ballots. Additionally, Vinicius Jr. received zero points from voters in El Salvador, Finland, and Namibia. Finnish journalist Juha Kanerva later explained that Vinicius’s absence on his ballot was a “technical error” and, following criticism, offered to “resign from the Ballon d’Or jury.” Ultimately, Rodri edged out Vinicius Jr. by just 41 points.
Further in the rankings, Haaland finished fifth, trailing Carvajal by 118 points but narrowly ahead of Mbappe by 12. City’s Phil Foden came in 64 points behind Harry Kane but stayed 56 points clear of Florian Wirtz.
In other close results, Ruben Dias earned eight points, five fewer than Antonio Rudiger and tying with William Saliba. Despite the tie, Dias ranked higher due to more appearances in upper ballot slots. Cole Palmer finished one point behind this duo, while Declan Rice trailed Palmer by two points.
