Karim Benzema predicts former teammate Vinicius Junior will win the 2024 Ballon d’Or and insists Real Madrid are hard to beat after signing Kylian Mbappe.
In an interview with Marca , when asked to predict the winner of this year’s Golden Ball, Benzema replied: “I would choose Vini because he deserves it. Vini has had a great season. Not only this year, but last year, he also played very well. Vini is superior to other players in terms of individual skills. Although he is young, he is already a very complete player.”
Assessing Vinicius’ strengths, which make him stand out from other candidates, Benzema believes the Brazilian striker has the ability to decide matches and always speak up when Real need him most.
Benzema and Vinicius when they played together at Real. Photo: EFE
The 2024 Ballon d’Or will be awarded on October 28. Last year, the title went to Lionel Messi after the 37-year-old helped Argentina win the 2022 World Cup. This year, with Real winning the La Liga and Champions League double, many people believe that the player of this club will win this prestigious individual award.
Vinicius was voted the best player of the 2023–2024 Champions League. However, his minus point is that he has not played well at the national team level. When Brazil lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Copa America in early July, Vini was out due to suspension.
Meanwhile, another strong candidate, Jude Bellingham, has a similar problem. He was the best player in La Liga in 2023-2024, helping England reach the Euro 2024 final but was overshadowed when losing to Spain. Many people do not rule out the possibility that Lionel Messi will continue to receive the most votes because he just won the Copa America with Argentina despite not playing very well. Another candidate mentioned by many people is Spanish midfielder Rodri, the best player of Euro 2024.
Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d’Or before leaving Real last summer to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad. He was unsuccessful in his first year, having problems adapting to the new environment. However, Benzema believes he will play better next season to help Al-Ittihad regain glory.
Benzema also insisted he had no regrets about leaving Real, although he admitted he still followed his former club and cheered them on in last season’s Champions League final. He said that at this point, no club is strong enough to compete with Real, especially after the Bernabeu team recruited Kylian Mbappe.
Commenting on the successor of the number 9 shirt at Real, Benzema said: “I knew sooner or later Mbappe would move to Real. He is a good player. We have a good relationship because we played together in the French team.”