How The 30-Man Ballon d'Or List Would Look If It Was Based On Stats

The 30 nominees for the 2017 Ballon d'Or award list have been released, and as expected, it's caused huge debate relating to who has made the cut, and who hasn't.

The award was linked with FIFA from 2009 and 2015, but the football governing body have since moved away and created their own 'FIFA: The Best' award, with the Ballon d'Or shortlist and eventual winner decided by a panel of journalists, hosted by publication France Football.

But had the list been purely based off performance data and statistics, rather than subjective opinion, it would have been very different.

As we know, as useful as they are, stats do not always tell the story and can be manipulated in various ways. However, in these type of instances, it makes for interesting reading to see who would have been part of the 30-man list for the prestigious award.

Stats site Who Scored, have come up with a different 2017 Ballon d'Or shortlist using statistical data and ratings accrued over the year. It sees Neymar, the most expensive footballer in world football, top the charts with a 8.80 rating, while Lionel Messi is in second on 8.60.

Image: PA

Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara didn't even make the list of 30 from France Football, but going off stats, he has been the third-best player this year. Atalanta captain Alejandro 'Papu' Gomez is in fourth, while Harry Kane is ranked fifth.

Image: PA

Perhaps most surprising is the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the favourite to win the award and tie Lionel Messi on five Ballon d'Ors, is all the way down in ninth.

The list does feature a good chunk of those who are on the actual shortlist, but there are plenty of glaring admissions and suprise inclusions.

Here is the list from France Football in full:

Neymar (PSG/Brazil)

Luka Modric (Real Madrid/Croatia)

Paulo Dybala (Juventus/Argentina)

Marcelo (Real Madrid/Brazil)

N'Golo Kante (Chelsea/France)

Luis Suarez (Barcelona/Uruguay)

Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid/Spain)

Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid/Slovenia)

Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool/Brazil)

Dries Mertens (Napoli/Belgium)

Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City/Belgium)

Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland)

David De Gea (Manchester United/Spain)

Harry Kane (Tottenham/England)

Edin Dzeko (Roma/Bosnia)

Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid/France)

Toni Kroos (Real Madrid/Germany)

Sadio Mane (Liverpool/Senegal)

Radamel Falcao (Monaco/Colombia)

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus/Italy)

Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)

Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich/Germany)

Edinson Cavani (PSG/Uruguay)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund/Gabon)

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/France)

Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium)

Kylian Mbappe (PSG/France)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal)

Isco (Real Madrid/Spain)

Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)

Thoughts on the two lists?

Sound off in the comments.

Topics: Football, Ballon d'Or

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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