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

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.

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 Milan. 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. ”

“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 a dream, because it’s recognition for all the sacrifices made, the work done and the great year I had with Inter Milan. 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