Euro 2024: Despite the result, will Jude Bellingham win the Ballon d'Or?

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Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of England's greatest assets with his performances for England this Euros. Credit: PA

He's already won the Spanish League, he's already won the Champions League and he came so close to winning the European Championships.

He may well have cemented himself in England folklore, but Stourbridge's Jude Bellingham will surely be hoping for even more glory.

In the Spanish League this season, he provided 25 goals and assists in just 28 games, including six match-winning goals.

In the Champions League, he provided four goals and five assists in eleven games and was presented with the UEFA Champions League "Young Player of the Season" award.

For England, who can forget his sensational overhead bicycle kick in the 95th minute of added time in the round of 16 against Slovakia ?

Or his penalty in the quarter final shootout, taken with the composure of a player who's been in the game for a decade.

Jude Bellingham's dramatic 95th minute equaliser against Slovakia sent England to extra time and eventually the next round. Credit: PA

These moments are exactly what Bellingham is known for. He said it himself after the round of 16, but Bellingham really does write his own scripts.

What is the Ballon d'Or and will Bellingham win it?

The Ballon d'Or is awarded every season to the best player in the world.

Should Bellingham be awarded it, he would become the second-youngest player to ever win the award.

Brazilian striker Ronaldo is currently the youngest to do so at 21-year-old and 96 days, back in 1997. Jude would only be older than him by about a month should he win it.

Whether Bellingham will win the most prestigious individual award in world football though is a tough question.

He is, however, the bookies favourite alongside his Brazilian Real Madrid teammate Vinicius Junior.

But after Brazil's early exit from the Copa America, if Bellingham helps England to their first trophy since 1966, it will surely aid his campaign.

Plenty think Bellingham should win the Ballon d'Or regardless of the Euro 2024 final result.

Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins, in an England press conference on Friday, was full of praise for the ex-Birmingham City man.

"For a start I think, whatever happens, Jude should win the Ballon d’Or".

"The way he’s played, he plays with such maturity, confidence, aura. I can’t speak any more highly of him to be honest."

The nominees for the Ballon d'Or will be announced on the 4th September.

The award has been won by an Englishman on five occasions, but the last English player to do so was Michael Owen in 2001, before Bellingham was even born.

The current holder of the Kopa trophy, given to the best player under 21 during a joint ceremony with the Ballon d'Or, Jude would be the first player ever to be ranked best young player and then immediately win the award for world's best player.

He told us he writes his own scripts. And if he can continue to do so, it will certainly help his chances.

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