The current European champion has become the best footballer in the world according to France Football magazine.
On Monday, October 28, the 2024 Golden Ball award ceremony took place at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris. The main individual prize was awarded to Manchester City and Spanish national team midfielder Rodri.
In the voting, he beat out the other three finalists in the nomination – Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior, English midfielder Jude Bellingham and Spanish defender Dani Carvajal, who play for Real Madrid.
We tell you more about the career and achievements of the Spaniard, who was named the best footballer in the world in 2024 by France Football magazine.
The beginning of Rodri's career
The full name of the newly-minted Ballon d'Or winner is Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante. He was born on June 22, 1996 in Madrid. The Spaniard began playing football in a small team, Rayo Majadahonda, from which he moved to the academy of the capital's Atletico in 2007.
In 2013, Rodri was expelled from the Madrid club due to an alleged “lack of physical strength” and subsequently ended up in the academy of Villarreal.
At the beginning of 2015, he was included in Villarreal's squad for the season. In order to gain playing practice, he first played for the Yellow Submarine's reserves, and on 17 December, he made his debut for the main team in a Copa del Rey match against Huesca.
On 17 April 2016, Rodri made his first appearance in La Liga, coming on as a substitute in the second half of a match against Rayo Vallecano. The Spaniard scored his debut goal for Villarreal on 3 November in a Europa League match against Turkish side Osmanlispor.
On May 24, 2018, Rodri signed a 5-year contract with Atlético, and on August 25, he made his debut for the main team of the “mattress makers” in a match against Rayo Vallecano. He scored his first goal for the Madrid club on November 10 against Atlético Bilbao. The Spaniard played for Atlético until 2019 and won the UEFA Super Cup with the club.
Rodri has become an irreplaceable leader of Manchester City
On July 3, 2019, Rodri moved to Manchester City. The English club bought out the player's contract, paying the buyout clause of 70 million euros stipulated in it. In his first match for the Citizens, the Spaniard won a trophy on August 4 – a victory over Liverpool in the English Super Cup.
On August 10, Rodri made his Premier League debut against West Ham, and on September 14, in a match against Norwich, he scored his first goal for Manchester City.
Together with the Sky Blues, he has already won 11 trophies, including four English titles and helped the club win the Champions League for the first time in history, scoring the winning goal in the final against Inter Milan. He was named the best player in the 2022/23 Champions League.
Rodri's trophies with Manchester City
- England Champion (4): 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24
- FA Cup Winner: 2022/23
- English League Cup Winner (2): 2019/20, 2020/21
- FA Community Shield Winner: 2019
- UEFA Champions League Winner: 2022/23
- UEFA Super Cup Winner: 2023
- FIBA Club World Cup Winner: 2023
Moreover, Rodri set a world record for the longest unbeaten streak with Manchester City. The Spaniard has gone 74 matches without defeat in all competitions for the club (59 wins and 15 draws).
He surpassed the achievements of two players from the legendary Italian Milan squad of the 80s and 90s of the last century. At that time, Demetrio Albertini and Paolo Maldini had not lost in 73 matches in a row.
Interestingly, without Rodri, during his record-breaking streak, which lasted 475 days, Manchester City had 7 wins and 5 losses. So the Spaniard is rightly considered an indispensable factor in the success of Josep Guardiola's team.
Rodri's career in the Spanish national team
Since 2012, Rodri has played for the Spanish youth teams of all ages. In 2015, he won the European U-19 Championship as part of the Spanish youth team. In 2017, he won silver at the European Youth Championship with the U-21 team.
On March 23, 2018, he made his debut for the senior Spanish team, coming on as a substitute in the second half of a friendly match against Germany. On November 17, 2020, he scored his first goal for the national team in a Nations League match against Germany.
In 2021, Hernandez reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020 with the Spanish national team. In 2022, he participated in the World Cup in Qatar. He became the winner of the 2022/23 Nations League.
In 2024, Rodri won the European Championship with the Red Fury. It was he who was recognizedthe best player of the triumphant continental championship for the Spaniards.
Rodri won the Golden Ball for the first time in his career. The record holder for the number of Golden Balls won remains Inter Miami and Argentina national team forward Lionel Messi, who has received this prize eight times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023).
The closest pursuer of the Argentine is Al-Nassr and Portugal national team forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who was recognized as the best footballer in the world five times (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017).
Earlier it was reported that the winners of the 2024 Golden Ball football award in all nominations have been determined.