Luka Modric May Actually Be Able to End Messi and Ronaldo’s Ballon D’Or Dominance

On Monday night Luka Modric was given The Best FIFA Men’s Player award, beating out Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo for the honors.

This was Modric’s third individual honor of the year after winning the Golden Ball at the World Cup and the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year. Although The Best FIFA Men’s Player award is not Modric’s first on the year, it may be the most important.

Often disputed and cast off as excessive, The Best award is respected as an additional honor for the world’s best player but nothing more than that.

However, the award presents an interesting foreshadowing as to who might win the Ballon D’or later this year.

Over the past 25 years of The Best award being given, the recipient has gone on to win the Ballon D’or all but six times. With Modric’s win this week, he may be headed to adding the Ballon D’or to his impressive trophy set.

The star midfielder for Real Madrid and the Croatian National Team has put together as good of a year as anyone else in the world. Modric won the Champions League in May, took his national team to the World Cup Final in July, and has started the domestic season off already locked in an early-season race with Barcelona for the La Liga Title.

Most soccer fans will argue for Modric over competitors Salah and Ronaldo, boasting a better body of work in all competitions. Messi may have led Europe in goals last season, but Modric was clearly better in all other areas of play.

The Ballon D’or will be awarded later this year and Modric has the best chance to end the duopoly of Messi and Ronaldo and be the first player other than the two greats to win the award since Kaka in 2007.