He might make the FIFPro World XI but there’s no room for David Luiz in the Ballon d’Or top 23 shortlist.
It would’ve been interesting to see if he had got any votes at all. Across all the countries, all the coaches, captains and representative media that voted, would the Brazilian have featured in anyone’s top three?
After Roy Hodgson made a bit of a mug of himself with his underwhelming selections, and Robbie Keane and Martin O’Neill had their say too, all of the votes cast from around the world can be tallied up into a nice, neat top 23.
What percentage of the votes did each player get? And where did they rank in the race for the Ballon d’Or 2014?
The ranking tallies up all three nominations from each voter. A first place vote earned five points, a second earned three, and a third earned one.
Eden Hazard and Yaya Toure were the only two players not to receive a first choice vote of any kind.
Mario Gotze, despite placing 15th overall, came in joint seventh in terms of first choice votes. The breakdown for first choice votes outside the Ronaldo, Messi, Neuer stanglehold was as follows:
Arjen Robben – 17
Philip Lahm – 12
James Rodriguez – 6
Thomas Muller – 5
Toni Kroos – 5
Mario Gotze – 5
Neymar – 5
Gareth Bale – 5
Thibaut Courtois – 4
Angel Di Maria – 4
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 3
Andres Iniesta – 3
Bastian Schweinsteiger – 2
Javier Mascherano – 2
Diego Costa – 2
Sergio Ramos – 1
Paul Pogba – 1
Karim Benzema – 1
