The Ballon d’Or can, for the most part, be pretty predictable. After all, we are talking about an individual prize that has only been won by three different individuals since 2007 with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi romping their way to 12 of the last 13 plaques.
It’s a status quo that makes the next awarding of France Football’s revered accolade a very interesting one because it looks for all intents and purposes as though the duopoly might come to an end for good.
While you can never say never when it comes to the evergreen Ronaldo and Messi, the seemingly inevitable triumph of Karim Benzema could well bookend one of the most astonishing eras in football history.
And that might open the door for great competition and speculation surrounding the potential winners of the most coveted individual prize in the men’s game going forward.