Modric reigns supreme as decade of Ballon D’Or dominance broken

The Ballon D’Or is seen as the most prestigious individual award in the world of football. The award given out by French news outlet France Football has taken on a historical mantra, seen by fans and professionals around the world as the gong which marks the world greatest footballer of the past year.

Since 2008, the award has been dominated by two gods of the game. A period in which the world has been blessed with two of the most talented, exciting and effective players in the history of the game.

After a  decade of dominance by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have shared the award 5 times a piece since 2008,  this year that their dominance has finally been broken, with the 2018 Ballon D’Or awarded to Luka Modric of Real Madrid. This comes after a stellar World Cup performance, guiding his side to the final, where they lost to France and also winning his third consecutive Champions League with his club side.

Modric becomes the first Croatian to ever win the esteemed prize, he beat Cristiano Ronaldo who finished in second place, whilst World Cup winner, Antoine Griezmann, rounded off the top three.

It is the first time since 2007 that Barcelona’s Lionel Messi was not involved in the final three of this award, but the night belonged to Luka Modric, who was also recently crowned FIFA Best Mens Player Award and featured in the FIFAPRo Best XI.

Ada Hegerberg picked up the Ballon D’Or Feminin, the first time the woman have been involved in these award proceedings.

The final major award was given to France and PSG wonderkid Kylian Mbappe, who took home the Trophee Kopa, another first of it’s kind, given to the best player under the age of 21. At just 19 years old, Mbappe may be in line for the Kopa in years to come, he will almost certainly be in the running to replicate Luka Modric, and win the Ballon D’Or at some point in his career.