Lautaro, Sommer, Calhanoglu - Pallone d'Oro

2024 Ballon d'Or 2024: Lautaro and Calhanoglu finish seventh and 20th

Team

— Oct 28th 2024

5 MIN READING

The Argentine in the top 10, with Yann Sommer coming sixth in the Yashin Trophy ranking

On the evening of Monday 28 October, the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony took place at the Théâtre du Châtelet, located in the heart of Paris. Now in its 68th edition, the award, which was established by France Football in 1956 to honour the best player of the year, was won by Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri. Rodri thus became the second Spaniard in history to win the Ballon d'Or, following in the footsteps of Luis Suarez, a Nerazzurri legend who played for Helenio Herrera's Grande Inter side.

Three Nerazzurri players attended the Ballon d'Or 2024 ceremony: Lautaro Martinez and Hakan Calhanoglu were included in the 30 candidates shortlisted to win the award, while Yann Sommer was part of the list of ten shot-stoppers in contention to win the Yashin Trophy, the award for the best goalkeeper of the year.

Lautaro finished seventh in the final ranking, ending up in the top 10 for the first time in his career. Hakan Calhanoglu came 20th, while Sommer finished sixth in the Yashin Trophy ranking.

2024 BALLON D'OR: FINAL RANKING

1. Rodri 2. Vinicius Jr. 3. Jude Bellingham 4. Dani Carvajal 5. Erling Haaland 6. Kylian Mbappé 7. Lautaro Martinez 8. Lamine Yamal 9. Toni Kroos 10. Harry Kane 11. Phil Foden 12. Florian Wirtz 13. Dani Olmo 14. Ademola Lookman 15. Nico Williams 16. Granit Xhaka 17. Federico Valverde 18. Emiliano Martinez 19. Martin Odegaard 20. Hakan Calhanoglu 21. Bukayo Saka 22. Antonio Rudiger 23. Ruben Dias 24. William Saliba 25. Cole Palmer 26. Declan Rice 27. Vitinha 28. Alejandro Grimaldo 29. Artem Dovbyk 29. Mats Hummels

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 28: A general view prior to the 68th Ballon D'Or Ceremony at Theatre Du Chatelet on October 28, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

During the evening, Lautaro Martinez took the stage at the Théâtre du Châtelet to present the Yashin Trophy, which was won by his international teammate Emiliano Martinez. Before doing so, the Nerazzurri captain tried to describe the emotions he was feeling:

“For me, it’s a pleasure to be here. In recent times, I’ve won many important titles with Argentina and Inter. It’s an honour, and I’m happy because we work so hard to win trophies and achieve group objectives. Every day, this sport encourages you to make sacrifices in order to grow. When you face a goalkeeper, there’s always the worry he could come out on top. We always study opposition goalkeepers, and you need to keep in mind the things you’ve analysed before matches. ”

Lautaro Martinez - Premiazione Trofeo Yashin

“I’d like to say thank you for the welcome we’ve received here. I’m delighted to be here tonight and to be in a position to compete for this award. For me, it’s dream, because it’s recognition for all the sacrifices made, the work done and the great year I had with Inter. I think it’s always important to be nominated for such a prestigious award, but it mostly comes down to my achievements with my teams, Inter and Argentina”

Lautaro Martinez

“It’s a great honour to be here. I was really looking forward to this event, and it’s a great moment in my career. At 35 years old, I’m no longer considered young in the football world, but I feel fantastic and am enjoying these years of my career. I’m delighted to be here this evening. ”

Yann Sommer

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 28: Agustina Gandolfo and Lautaro Martinez attend the 68th Ballon D'Or Photocall at Theatre Du Chatelet on October 28, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 28: Sinem Calhanoglu and Hakan Calhanoglu attend the 68th Ballon D'Or Photocall at Theatre Du Chatelet on October 28, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 28: Yann Sommer and Alina Sommer attend the 68th Ballon D'Or Photocall at Theatre Du Chatelet on October 28, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

LAUTARO MARTINEZ: SEVENTH PLACE

2024 represents the third Ballon d'Or nomination for Lautaro Martinez. The Nerazzurri captain finished 21st in 2021 and 20th in 2023. As reported by France Football, he played 60 matches between Inter and Argentina during the 2023/24 season, scoring 35 goals and providing four assists. The year 2024 was a magical one for Lautaro: Champion of Italy, top scorer and MVP of Serie A and winner of the Copa America with Argentina, a competition in which he was also the top scorer.

For the first time in his career, Lautaro finished in the top 10 of the Ballon d'Or ranking: the Argentine came in seventh place.

HAKAN CALHANOGLU: 20TH PLACE

The heartbeat of the Inter side that won the 20th Scudetto and the Second Star, Hakan Calhanoglu is among the candidates for the Ballon d'Or for the first time in his career. The Turkish midfielder was a vital figure for the Nerazzurri last season: in total, Calhanoglu collected 52 appearances, 17 goals and three assists between club and international matches, also winning the award for best midfielder of Serie A 2023/24.

Thanks to these numbers, the midfielder finished in 20th place in the 2024 Ballon d'Or ranking.

THE CEREMONY AND AWARDS: SOMMER AND THE YASHIN TROPHY

During the ceremony on Monday 28 October, several awards were presented to the best players of the past season: in addition to the Men's and Women's Ballon d'Or, the following were all handed out: the Kopa Trophy (best U21 player), the Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper), the Gerd Müller Trophy (best goal scorer of the season) and the Club of the Year awards, both for men and women. In addition to the usual awards, the 2024 edition saw the inclusion of two new awards: the Men‘s Coach of the Year Trophy and the Women's Coach of the Year Trophy.

2024 WINNERS

Kopa Trophy: Lamine Yamal
Men's Club of the Year: Real Madrid
Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Gerd Müller Trophy: Harry Kane - Kylian Mbappé
Yashin Trophy: Emiliano Martinez
Women’s Coach of the Year Trophy: Emma Hayes
Men’s Coach of the Year Trophy: Carlo Ancelotti
Women's Ballon d'Or: Aitana Bonmati

YANN SOMMER: SIXTH PLACE

Nerazzurri goalkeeper Yann Sommer was instrumental in Inter's pursuit of the Second Star. The Swiss goalkeeper was unbeaten in 19 full matches in the 2023/24 season: no foreign goalkeeper has ever done better in a Serie A season in the era of three points per win (19 clean sheets also for Sebastian Frey in 2006/07 with Fiorentina). In the same period (since 1994/95), Yann also became the Inter goalkeeper who collected the most clean sheets in a single campaign. In addition to these great achievements, Sommer's numbers with Switzerland, who made it to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, must also be added: in total, Yann played 54 matches and collected 27 clean sheets.

For a second consecutive year, the Yashin Trophy was won by Aston Villa and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, with Yann Sommer finishing sixth.

The full ranking:

2024 YASHIN TROPHY

1. Emiliano Martinez 2. Unai Simon 3. Andrij Lunin 4. Gianluigi Donnarumma 5. Mike Maignan 6. Yann Sommer 7. Giorgi Mamardashvili 8. Diogo Costa 9. Ronwen Williams 10. Gregor Kobel