The Ballon d'Or Curse: A Brilliant Career Ends, and the Threat of a Long-Term Injury Period Rises

The Ballon d'Or winner, the most prestigious individual award in football, has experienced an ironic career period in the last two editions. After delivering impressive performances with consistent play throughout the season, they have found it difficult to reach their best level of play again.

Rodri serves as an example of how the Ballon d'Or season can negatively impact a football player's career. The central midfielder of Manchester City and the Spanish national football team reached the peak of his performance during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons.

He led City to a treble of Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League glory in the 2022-2023 season. A year later, Rodri was a key figure in Spain's Euro 2024 triumph.

That consistent performance has made Rodri the third Spanish player to bring home the "Golden Ball" Ballon d'Or, which is equivalent to the Oscar for footballers. He matches the record of legends from the "Matador Country" in the 1950s, namely Alfredo Di Stefano (1957 and 1959) and Luis Suarez (1960).

However, his performance came at a high cost. He was sidelined for 235 days or approximately 34 weeks due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury at the beginning of the 2024-2025 season. This injury was a result of the excessive workload experienced by the player who graduated from the Villarreal Academy.

He played 135 games across two seasons, including 106 for City and 29 for the Spanish national team. Following a hamstring injury sustained at the end of Euro 2024, Rodri didn't have much time to rest.

In three seasons, starting from 2022-2023 to 2024-2025, Rodri has never had a break during the seasonal gap of one month or 30 days.

FIFPRO, the International Federation of Professional Footballers, through its 2025 annual report titled “The Player Health and Performance Impact,” revealed that Rodri only had a rest period of 26 days leading up to the 2022-2023 season. Subsequently, he was only away from football for 27 and 28 days respectively before the start of the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 seasons.

Last season, the Ballon d'Or winner (Rodri) suffered an injury and had to be sidelined for nearly an entire season. This year's Ballon d'Or recipient (Dembele) is also currently absent due to injury.

A similar situation was also experienced by the 2025 Ballon d'Or recipient, Ousmane Dembele. The 2024-2025 season marks Dembele's best performance, both in terms of goal contributions and playing time. Dembele has never reached a level of fitness as good as last season.

He appeared in 61 matches for PSG and the French national team. His total playing time reached 4,064 minutes. For the first time, the 28-year-old player was able to reach 4,000 minutes in a single competitive season.

The striker, known for having "glass legs" due to his susceptibility to injuries, was only absent for 17 days during the 2024-2025 season. However, this consistent performance has been affected by the re-emergence of a minor knee injury he sustained last June while representing France in the European Nations League.

The injury forced Dembele to withdraw from the Club World Cup. He only made a cameo appearance in the tournament in the United States. At the start of the 2025-2026 season, he was again plagued by a hamstring injury.

For the record, since breaking into the Rennes first team, Dembele has been sidelined for 509 days due to a hamstring injury. That's nearly two years of Dembele's absence.

"Last season, the Ballon d'Or winner (Rodri) suffered an injury and had to be sidelined for nearly an entire season. This year's Ballon d'Or recipient (Dembele) is also currently absent due to injury. How long must these incidents occur for club owners to realize that there are issues in football that are detrimental to their business as well?" said FIFPRO Secretary General Alex Philips to the BBC on Monday (29/9/2025).

In a report released on Monday, FIFPro, through sports health experts, stated that the maximum number of matches a player can participate in during a season is 55. However, in reality, the majority of players representing clubs in the 2025 Club World Cup have played more than 60 matches in a single season.

Luka Modric, for instance, played 76 matches in his final season with Real Madrid. He was the player with the most appearances in the 2024-2025 season. Federico Valverde, a player for Real and the Uruguayan national team, had a lower number of matches than Modric, with 72 matches, but he was the player with the highest playing time.

Valverde recorded 6,676 minutes of play last season. Interestingly, Valverde's average playing time has exceeded the normal duration of a football match, which is 90 minutes. Last season, Valverde averaged 93 minutes per game.

Four out of the ten players with the most match duration in the 2024-2025 season are members of the PSG squad. Fabian Ruiz (71 matches), Achraf Hakimi (69 matches), Joao Neves (69 matches), and Desire Doue (69 matches) are players who are indispensable for the team coached by the Spanish coach, Luis Enrique.

One problem in soccer, according to FIFPro, is the very limited off-season rest period compared to other professional sports, such as NBA basketball and MLB. Players in Europe's top leagues only get an average of three weeks off between seasons.

That's significantly lower than the 14 weeks for NBA players playing in the playoffs and the 23 weeks for players not playing in the playoffs. In MLB, players not playing in the playoffs can rest for 15 weeks and those playing only in the regular season can rest for 20 weeks.

"Reform is needed in football. Creating minimum standards for pre-season rest and preparation will not undermine the game. In fact, it will improve performance on the pitch by ensuring players are fitter and able to perform at their best in more matches," said Darren Burgess, Chair of the FIFPRO High-Performance Advisory Network and Juventus Performance Director.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola also warned that excessive match durations could have a detrimental impact on the football business in the future. Great players will quickly fade away, and young potential players may fail to reach their maximum performance.

"This (football) business can operate without managers, sports directors, media, and owners, but this business cannot function without the players. The only party that has the power to determine the course of this business is them (the players)," Guardiola said in the report.