🏆 Ballon d'OneFootball: A big game hero in 8th place | OneFootball

Welcome to the 2024 Ballon d'OneFootball.

We have been counting down our top 10 men's footballers in the world right now, before revealing the winner on 27 July 2024.

You can read here how we voted for this year's award.

And here is our list so far.

Today, we have...

8th: Dani Carvajal, Real Madrid and Spain

Clean sheets in 2023/24: 22

Goals and assists in 2023/24: 7, 6

Trophies won in 2023/24: LaLiga title, Champions League, Supercopa de España, European Championship.

Highest ranking among voters: Social Media 📲 (2nd)

Why were they nominated?

Did you read that roll of honour above?

Aside from the Copa del Rey, the 32-year-old won every single honour available to him over the course of the season.

He is the perfect example of an underrated heartbeat in a team, often overlooked in a star-studded Los Blancos side over the past decade but with senior stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos having made way in recent years, he is still there turning in exceptional performances week after week.

Few get the better of him defensively and he's an important asset for both club and country going forward. Essentially, Carvajal is everything you want in a modern full-back.

Best moment since the start of 2023/24?

There is no doubt it is the moment when he finally grasped the limelight in London, thumping home a header against Borussia Dortmund to set Real Madrid on their way to a Champions League final victory over Borussia Dortmund.

In his 89th European game, it is only the second time he hit the back of the net. No better time to get it.

But a notable mention should also go to his delightful outside-of-the-boot flicked pass for Lamine Yamal in the EURO 2024 final, which allowed him to tee up Nico Williams for the opener.

In the two biggest finals of the year, Carvajal's class broke the deadlock in both.