Ballon d'Or 2024 official points REVEALED: Rodri beat Vinicius Jr. by narrow margin to win award; details here

Days after Manchester City's Rodri was honoured with the prestigious Ballon d'Or 2024 award, it has not been revealed that the Spanish midfielder narrowly defeated Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior by just 41 points, with the final tally standing at 1170 points to 1129. The tight contest had earlier sparked controversy, leading to a boycott of the prestigious award ceremony in Paris by Vinicius Jr. and the Los Blancos.

The Ballon d'Or is awarded based on votes cast by 99 journalists, who rank their top 10 players of the year. First-place votes are worth 15 points, with the system descending in value to one point for the 10th-place slot. Despite Rodri’s victory, five of the 99 jurors did not include him on their ballots, while Vinicius Jr. was omitted by three voters.

One of the biggest surprises of the voting came from a first-place vote for Ademola Lookman, the Nigerian forward who played a pivotal role in Atalanta’s Europa League victory. Other first-place votes were cast for Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, and Lautaro Martinez, alongside several Real Madrid players.

Real Madrid's decision to boycott the Ballon d'Or ceremony stemmed from the club’s belief that their star player, Vinicius Jr., was unjustly passed over for the award, despite his crucial contributions during the season, which included helping Real Madrid to both La Liga and Champions League titles.

“If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinícius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” said Real Madrid in an earlier statement. “As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-Uefa does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Real Madrid also felt that Dani Carvajal, who played a central role in Spain's Euro 2024 triumph alongside Rodri, should have been in contention for the award instead of the Manchester City midfielder.

Rodri’s win marks a significant achievement in his career, following a standout season in which he played a key role both domestic and international competitions. However, the fallout from the result underscores the deep divisions within the football world over the fairness and transparency of the Ballon d'Or voting process.