Every year since 2017, B/R Football has split the year into fours and run Ballon d’Or rankings after every quarter.
The goal? To gauge players’ calendar-year performances and statistics, then create an informed shortlist of who might have put themselves in the running for the award. It is, essentially, “if the Ballon d’Or was awarded now, who would get it?”
In a typical year, it only forms a sliver of the picture—particularly the March edition—as there’s so much more football to be played, and almost all of the deciding factors (Champions League finals, international trophies) are still to come.
But with the coronavirus pandemic shutting football down around the world for the foreseeable future—even sparking questions over whether the season will finish at all—the period we’ve just completed could be more important than ever.
Before scrolling down, it’s worth reminding yourself of a key distinction when it comes to this award: The Ballon d’Or is a calendar-year award, so we have taken into account solely what has happened from January to now. Whatever happened in the first half of the season, in 2019, is irrelevant and not considered.