If you were watching football in December 2018, you probably remember the seismic shift that happened in Paris. For a whole decade, the Ballon d'Or had basically been a private game of tennis between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They just passed the trophy back and forth like it was a family heirloom.
Then came the 2018 Ballon d'Or, and the streak finally snapped.
Luka Modric walked onto that stage, took the golden trophy, and effectively ended an era. But even now, years later, people are still arguing about whether he actually deserved it. Was it a "pity trophy" for a great World Cup run? Or was it the long-overdue recognition of a midfield maestro who finally stepped out of the shadow of the goal-scorers?
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Honestly, the answer is a bit of both, but mostly it's about a very specific set of circumstances that will probably never happen again.
Who won the 2018 Ballon d'Or and why was it so controversial?
Luka Modric won the 2018 Ballon d'Or with a staggering 753 points. He didn't just win; he won by a landslide. Cristiano Ronaldo came in second with 478 points, and Antoine Griezmann rounded out the top three with 414.
The controversy didn't come from the points, though. It came from the stat sheet.
You see, we live in an era of "G/A" (goals and assists) obsession. If you look at Modric’s raw numbers from that season—just a handful of goals and a few assists for Real Madrid—they look tiny compared to Ronaldo’s 15 Champions League goals or Messi’s domestic dominance with Barcelona.
The Voting Breakdown
- Luka Modric: 753 points
- Cristiano Ronaldo: 478 points
- Antoine Griezmann: 414 points
- Kylian Mbappé: 347 points
- Lionel Messi: 280 points (Yes, he finished fifth. Seriously.)
Messi finishing fifth was probably the biggest shock of the night. It felt like the football world had collectively decided to look at something other than sheer individual brilliance for once. They were looking at narrative.
The Summer That Changed Everything
To understand why Modric won, you have to look at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Croatia, a country of about 4 million people, made it all the way to the final. Modric was the heartbeat of that team. He wasn't just passing the ball; he was controlling the temperature of every single game.
He played more minutes than almost anyone else in the tournament. He covered more ground. He was the guy who stayed calm when Croatia went to three consecutive extra-time periods in the knockout stages.
When he won the World Cup Golden Ball (the award for the best player of the tournament), the momentum for the Ballon d'Or became unstoppable. It’s kinda rare for a midfielder to get that much hype, but that summer, you couldn't talk about football without talking about Luka.
A Trophy Cabinet Full of Gold
It wasn't just the World Cup, either. People forget that before he flew to Russia, Modric helped Real Madrid win their third consecutive Champions League title. He was the "assist to the assist" guy.
By the time the gala in Paris rolled around, he had already swept the other major awards:
- UEFA Men's Player of the Year
- The Best FIFA Men's Player
- World Cup Golden Ball
Basically, if you were a journalist voting for the Ballon d'Or, it was hard to ignore the guy who had won literally everything else that year.
The "Snub" Factor: Ronaldo and Messi
A lot of people think Cristiano Ronaldo was robbed. He had a monstrous Champions League campaign, including that overhead kick against Juventus. But when he moved to Juve that summer, the "Real Madrid PR machine"—as some cynics call it—shifted its focus to Modric.
Ronaldo and Messi didn't even show up to the ceremony. It was a bit awkward, honestly. Their absence felt like a protest, or maybe just a realization that for the first time in 11 years, the spotlight wasn't on them.
Then there’s Antoine Griezmann. He won the World Cup with France. He won the Europa League with Atlético Madrid. He arguably had the best "resume" of anyone on the list. But he split the "French vote" with Kylian Mbappé and Raphaël Varane. If France had only had one superstar that year, Modric might have had a much harder time winning.
A Night of Firsts
The 2018 ceremony wasn't just about Luka. It was a massive night for the sport for other reasons.
Ada Hegerberg won the first-ever Ballon d'Or Féminin. She had been absolutely lethal for Lyon, scoring 15 goals in the Champions League alone. Her win was a huge milestone, though it was unfortunately overshadowed by a pretty cringey moment on stage when the host asked her to "twerk" (she rightly said no).
Meanwhile, a teenage Kylian Mbappé took home the inaugural Kopa Trophy for the best player under 21. It was pretty obvious he was going to win that one. He had just become the youngest player to score in a World Cup final since Pelé.
Was it the right call?
Looking back, the 2018 Ballon d'Or remains a polarizing moment. If the award is for the "best" player in the world, most would still say it was Messi or Ronaldo. But if the award is for the "best year," Modric has a rock-solid case.
He didn't have the goals, but he had the influence. He was the guy who made everyone around him 10% better. He broke the duopoly, and in doing so, he opened the door for other "non-scoring" players to be recognized in the future—think Rodri or Jorginho in later years.
What you should do next:
If you want to really understand why Modric won, go back and watch the 2018 World Cup semi-final between Croatia and England. Don't watch the goals. Just watch Modric from the 60th minute onwards. While everyone else was gassed, he was still picking passes and running the show. It’s a masterclass in why stats don't always tell the full story of a football match.
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If you're settling a debate with a friend about whether Ronaldo deserved it more, check the head-to-head stats from that Champions League season—but remember, the Ballon d'Or has always been as much about the "moment" as it is about the numbers.