7 players who have outscored Vinicius Junior since his Ballon d’Or vow

“I’ll do it 10x if I have to. They’re not ready,” Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior posted on social media after it was announced that Manchester City midfielder Rodri pipped him to the Ballon d’Or last year.

True to his word, Vinicius followed up that bold statement with a hat-trick against Osasuna in his first La Liga appearance since the snub.

But since then things haven’t quite gone to plan, having failed to find the back of the net in the Spanish top flight in over three months – a period hampered by injury and a three-match suspension for a straight red card against Valencia.

Dozens of players across Europe’s five major leagues have scored more league goals than Vinicius since he made his Ballon d’Or promise, but we’ve picked out seven – notable for one reason or another – in particular.

Scott McTominay

“Scott is a complete player, versatile, who can be a trequartista behind the striker, he can be a mezz’ala in a three-man midfield, play in a two-man midfield or even wide in a 5-4-1 with licence to attack,” Antonio Conte told reporters of the Scotland international earlier this season.

Who doubted McSauce? We’ve even seen a headline or two from over in Italy dubbing him McMaradona.

That’s admittedly pushing it (just a tad), but the industrious midfielder looks like the perfect Conte lieutenant and is starring in Napoli’s Scudetto push this season.

McTominay has driven forward and produced vital goals against the likes of Inter, Fiorentina, Atalanta and Udinese, taking him up to six in total in his debut Serie A campaign (no Manchester United player has more league goals) and five since Vini’s Ballon d’Or tantrum.

Bruno Fernandes

No shade at Fernandes, who is obviously a great player on his day.

But it’s telling that the Portuguese playmaker has more league goals in recent months than Vinicius, all while operating in a deeper position for a notoriously goal-shy team that his manager called “the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United.”

All five of Fernandes’ Premier League goals this season have come since the sacking of Erik ten Hag in late October, which was coincidentally around the time Vini made his Ballon d’Or pledge.

Kevin Schade

It’s now over two years since Schade first arrived at Brentford, his initial loan later turned into a club-record £22million permanent transfer.

We’re still none the wiser as to exactly how good the German forward is, given his struggles with form and fitness for Thomas Frank’s Bees over that time.

Even after the departure of talisman Ivan Toney, he’s been thoroughly outshone by Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa this season.

And yet, while struggling to nail down his spot in Frank’s favoured starting XI, Schade has more league goals than Ballon d’Or chaser Vinicius since the start of November.

A hat-trick against Leicester City was a bolt from the blue, and he’s followed that up with further goals in wins over Newcastle, Southampton and Crystal Palace.

Che Adams

McTominay isn’t the Scotland international tearing it up in Italy.

Adams featured in Southampton’s promotion last term, but you can’t imagine he’s missing life at St. Mary’s given their struggles this season.

Instead, he’s enjoying a new lease of life out at Torino, with seven Serie A goals so far.

Recent months have seen the striker score one and set up the other in a 2-2 draw with Udinese, come off the bench to get the match-winner in a 1-0 win over Empoli and notch both goals in a 2-0 victory over Cagliari.

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Iliman Ndiaye

We’ve loved watching the Senegalese winger for Everton this season, particularly in recent weeks under David Moyes as he’s almost singlehandedly transformed them from miserable relegation-battlers to a comfortably midtable side.

But it’s remarkable that any Everton player can feature here, given that since the whole Ballon d’Or furore the club went on a dismal run of failing to score in nine of eleven Premier League games in the latter days of Sean Dyche’s tenure.

Kylian Mbappe

Okay, this is no surprise. There’s (obviously) no shame in being outscored by Mbappe, who has consistently proven himself one of the most lethal forwards in world football over the past decade or so.

…but we’d be surprised if it doesn’t sting a bit that Vinicius finds his thunder thoroughly stolen by a team-mate, Florentino Perez’s latest shiny Galactico.

Not only has Mbappe outscored Vinicius in La Liga in recent months, but he’s done so at a rate of knots.

The Frenchman has scored 10 La Liga goals, finding the back of the net in six different games, since Vini found the back of the net in the Spanish top flight.

Mbappe endured a slow start to life at Real Madrid but he’s flying now, stepping up to make himself their most potent attacker already.

What’s more concerning is that the vast majority of his goals – and most eye-catching displays – have come with Vinicius Junior absent. Carlo Ancelotti still has a headache to get the two superstars working in tandem.

Let’s see what happens from here. But right now there’s only one Madrid man you can imagine lifting the Ballon d’Or later this year, and it’s not Vinicius.

READ: 2025 Ballon d’Or power rankings: Is Mohamed Salah still the frontrunner?

Ousmane Dembele

It’s probably because he plays his football in Ligue 1, but we can’t help but feel Dembele’s ridiculous exploits have gone under the radar a little.

You’d struggle to find a better player in 2025, honestly.

The former Barcelona man is, as the French might (not) say ‘doing an absolute madness’, so far this calendar year.

Dembele has scored in each of his last seven appearances with 16 goals in total, including one that sparked PSG’s Champions League comeback victory over Manchester City, back-to-back hat-tricks against Stuttgart and Brest and two more against Monaco for good measure at the weekend.

“I was very brave last season when I told you that we would have a better attack and a better defence,” PSG manager Luis Enrique told reporters on life after Mbappe.

“I continue to say it, the numbers confirm it. Everyone loved Kylian, but the team is responding positively, at a spectacular level.”

The stats do indeed back him up. Dembele tops the Ligue 1 scoring charts with a career-best 16 goals, which is as many as Mbappe has notched in La Liga (with more assists).