Artificial intelligence has been used to predict the next 15 Ballon d’Or winners, and some surprising names have appeared on the list.
The French football award has evolved significantly since its inception in 1956, with Lionel Messi, the current holder, winning a record eight gongs and Cristiano Ronaldo having the most nominations for the top prize (18).
However, fans eager to glimpse the future of the France Football award to honor the best player have received surprising responses from AI.
X (formerly Twitter) Football Archive account He asked AI to name the jackpot winners through 2038, and there are plenty of talking points.
Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham is a contender for the top prize in 2024 and, if that happens, he would be the first Englishman to win the top prize since Michael Owen in 2001. He won the Kopa Trophy, for players under 21, the last year.
Artificial Intelligence was asked to name who will succeed Lionel Messi as Ballon d’Or winner
Jude Bellingham, who won the Kopa Trophy at last year’s ceremony, is scheduled for 2024
Kylian Mbappé, who was third on the 2023 list, is expected to take the top prize in 2025, before Messi takes home a ninth prize the following year, when he would be 39 years old.
Messi’s victory would extend the Argentine’s dominance in winning the award at the expense of his Portuguese nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo, who is not expected to win the top prize again.
Going forward, young talents Phil Foden, currently at Man City, and Gavi, now at Barcelona, are expected to top the poll in 2027 and 2028 respectively.
Foden’s club colleague Erling Haaland, who was second in 2023 and also took home the Gerd Muller Trophy, is expected to improve on the main Ballon d’Or in 2029.
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. could win the first prize of the 2030s, having won the Socrates Prize for his humanitarian work last October.
Brighton and Ireland star Evan Ferguson is the surprise choice for the 2031 award, despite no Republic of Ireland player having made the top three for the Ballon d’Or to date.
Erling Haaland, who came second in the 2023 ceremony, is expected to improve in 2029.
Brighton’s Evan Ferguson is a surprise name and is set to win two Ballon d’Ors, according to AI
Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, currently 21, is expected to win the top prize in 2032, and Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, who finished second to Bellingham in the Kopa Trophy in 2023, will take the grand prize in 2033.
The first name to appear twice on the list, the Frenchman Mbappé, who has just left PSG, should follow his 2025 award with another nine years later, when he would be 35 years old.
Ferguson will then win his second Ballon d’Or in 2035, following his success four years earlier, according to AI data.
Lamine Yamal, currently only 16 years old but plying his trade at Barcelona, is expected to be the Messi or Ronaldo of his era by winning consecutive Ballon d’Or awards in 2036 and 2037.
And Turkish Arda Guler, now playing for Real Madrid at 19, is the predicted winner of the 2038 award.
Lamine Yamal will be an icon of his time with consecutive Ballon d’Or awards in 2036 and 2037
Turkish player Arda Guler, who currently plays for Real Madrid, is expected to win the award in 2038.
The complete list of the next 15 Ballon d’Or winners, according to AI, from Bellingham to Guler
Since the 2023 ceremony took place in October of last year, the next awards ceremony is expected to take place sometime this fall.
Beyond that, football fans have a decade and a half to see how many of these predictions are accurate and which ones are off target.