Samba Gold Trophy 2024

Vinicius Junior is the winner of the Samba Gold 2024 award. Winning his second trophy in a row, the Real Madrid star is honored in the traditional award for the best Brazilians in international soccer, whose trophy was created in 2008.

For the second year in a row, the striker, who was brought up at Flamengo, left his compatriots behind. In 2024, the youngster finished ahead of Al Hilal striker Neymar and PSG defender Marquinhos, who came second and third respectively.

This time, however, it was striker Pedro who came second. The Flamengo player finished ahead of Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior’s teammate at Real Madrid.

The year 2024 was full of collective trophies for Vinicius Junior, who helped Real Madrid win the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup. This was the first season in which Vinicius started out as the main star of the winningest club in world soccer.

However, off the pitch, Vinicius Junior continues to stand out globally for his stance against racism. In addition, the player was considered wronged for not winning the Ballon d’Or. After a year of prominence and important and decisive titles, the player came second in the award, presented by France Football magazine in partnership with UEFA, losing out to Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder Rodri.