It was a cold December night in Paris when the football world finally collectivey exhaled. Or maybe it gasped? For the first time in an actual decade, the name read out from that golden envelope wasn't Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
Luka Modrić stood there, clutching the 2018 Ballon d’Or, and just like that, the "duopoly" was dead.
Honestly, it felt weird. If you’ve followed football for even five minutes, you know how dominant those other two were. But 2018 was different. It was the year of the "magician" from Zadar, a guy who didn't score 50 goals a season but basically dictated every single blade of grass he stepped on.
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The Real Story of Who Won the Ballon d'Or 2018
Luka Modrić didn't just win; he dominated the voting. He finished with 753 points. To put that in perspective, Cristiano Ronaldo—who came in second—only had 476. That’s a massive gap.
Why? Because 2018 wasn't about raw stats. It was about the "carry."
Modrić was the heartbeat of a Real Madrid side that won its third consecutive Champions League title. Think about that for a second. Three in a row. Then, he hopped on a plane to Russia and dragged a tiny nation like Croatia all the way to a World Cup final.
He was 33. Most players are eyeing a move to the MLS or Saudi by then. Instead, Modrić was playing 120-minute matches back-to-back, looking like he had three lungs.
What the Top 5 Looked Like
If you don't remember the exact order, it was a bit of a shocker at the time:
- Luka Modrić (Winner)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (The runner-up who didn't show up to the gala)
- Antoine Griezmann (World Cup winner, feeling a bit snubbed)
- Kylian Mbappé (The kid who won the Kopa Trophy the same night)
- Lionel Messi (Yes, fifth. People were furious.)
Messi in fifth place? That still gets brought up in every Twitter (X) argument to this day. He had 280 points. It was the first time since 2006 he wasn't in the top three.
Why Modrić Deserved It (And Why the Haters are Wrong)
A lot of people look at the sheet and say, "Wait, Modrić only scored like three goals all year?"
True. If you’re judging a playmaker by goals, you’re kinda missing the point. Football isn't just a spreadsheet.
Modrić won because of control. He won because when Croatia was down against England or Russia, he was the one demanding the ball. He was named the Golden Ball winner at the World Cup for a reason.
He also swept everything else that year:
- FIFA's The Best Men's Player
- UEFA Men's Player of the Year
- World Cup Golden Ball
Basically, he had a "clean sweep." When the journalists from France Football sat down to vote, the narrative was just too strong to ignore. He broke a cycle that felt like it was going to last forever.
The Drama and the "Fake" Votes
You can't have a Ballon d’Or without a little bit of chaos, right?
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The 2018 ceremony had its fair share. First, there was the controversy with Martin Solveig asking Ada Hegerberg (the first-ever female Ballon d'Or winner) to "twerk" on stage. It was awkward, cringe, and rightfully condemned.
Then came the weird stuff. Reports surfaced about a "fake journalist" from the Comoros Islands who supposedly voted for Mbappé. The publication he allegedly worked for, Albalad Comores, had apparently been closed for six years.
Did it change the result? Not even close. Modrić won by 277 points. Even if you took away every weird vote, he was still the king of 2018.
How the 2018 Result Changed Football
Before Modrić won, there was this idea that you had to be a striker or a flashy winger to win individual awards.
He proved that the "silent" work—the pre-assist, the positioning, the relentless pressing—actually mattered to the people who watch the game for a living. It opened the door for players like Rodri later on.
Modrić showed that you could be 5'8", come from a war-torn background, and still outplay the "aliens" of the sport.
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Actionable Insights for Fans
If you're ever in a heated debate about who won the Ballon d'Or 2018, keep these points in your back pocket:
- Trophies Matter: Modrić won the Champions League and reached a World Cup final in the same summer.
- Consistency is King: He played more minutes than almost anyone else that year at a world-class level.
- The Points Don't Lie: The margin of victory was one of the largest in recent history, showing a rare consensus among global journalists.
If you want to relive the magic, go watch the highlights of Croatia vs. Argentina from that summer. That long-range goal Modrić scored? That was the moment the Ballon d'Or was decided.
The 2018 award wasn't just a trophy for a shelf; it was a thank-you note to a player who made the midfield look like art.