Antoine Griezmann on Ballon d'Or Nominees: 'I Think That a Frenchman Must Win'

Antoine Griezmann has called for an end to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's 10-year monopoly of the Ballon d'Or, saying one of France's 2018 FIFA World Cup winners should take the award this year. 

Six members of the triumphant Les Blues squad, including Griezmann, have been included among the 30 nominees for the prestigious award, and the Atletico Madrid forward believes one of them deserves it given what France achieved in the summer, per France Football (h/t Goal's James Westwood):

"We are world champions, we're part of the best team in the world. In this best team in the world, there must be the best player in the world, right? In any case, that's what I think. Afterwards, there are votes, opinions, different judgements. But I think that a Frenchman must win the Ballon d'Or this year."

Griezmann, 27, added it's his "dream" to win the Ballon d'Or as "there are only star players, only legends among the winners."

N'Golo Kante, Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba, Hugo Lloris, Raphael Varane and Griezmann all impressed at Russia 2018.

Of the six, arguably Griezmann and Mbappe have the best chance of claiming the award as they both had success with their club sides in 2018—Atletico Madrid won the UEFA Europa League and Paris Saint-Germain a domestic treble. 

The Ballon d'Or voting also invariably favours attacking players with Fabio Cannavaro the only defensive player to claim the award in the last two decades.

However, Messi and Ronaldo, who have each won the Ballon d'Or five times in the last 10 years, are both also front-runners with Luka Modric.

The Croatian is favourite with the bookies after winning a third consecutive UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid before leading his nation to the World Cup final, where they lost 4-2 to France.

Modric has already claimed the FIFA Golden Ball award, the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award and the Best FIFA Men's Player award in 2018, a good indicator that he will also snap up the Ballon d'Or.

It seems that Messi and Ronaldo's stranglehold on the gong will finally be broken this year, but by a World Cup runner-up rather than winner.