Real Madrid and France’s Karim Benzema is the overwhelming favourite to win his first Ballon d’Or as thirty nominees for men’s and women’s awards were announced by France Football.
Lionel Messi was the highest profile name mission from the ballot, his first absence since the 2005 season along with his PSG teammate Neymar after both endured a disappointing season by their standards.
The seven-time winner, Messi, missed out on the ballot after scoring just 11 goals in all competitions last season. His controversial win over Robert Lewandowski led to radical changes in the voting for Ballon d’Or.
The list also features plenty of other big names including Robert Lewandowksi, Kylian Mbappe, Mohamad Salah, Kevin de Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Benzema, who was nominated for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award as well, is the favourite to lift his maiden Ballon d’Or after guiding Madrid to the Champions League and La Liga titles while winning the UEFA Nations League in October with France.
The women’s Ballon d’Or Nominees include Catarina Macario, Alex Morgan and Trinity Rodman from the USA, and last year’s winner Alexia Putellas, Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze and Beth Mead who helped guide England to Euros win this summer.
The list of women’s nominees also features five players who helped Lyon defeat Barcelona to win the Champions League last season including Selma Bacha, Christiane Endler, Aga Hegerberg and Wendie Renard.
Germany leads the way with three nominees for the Kopa Trophy, which celebrates the best men’s players under the age of 21 with Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi, Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz all making the list which includes Real Madrid Eduardo Camavinga and Barcelona’s Gavi.
Real Madrid’s Champions League final hero Thibaut Courtois leads the nominees for the Yachine Trophy given to the best goalkeeper.
Men’s Ballon d’Or nominees:
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Karim Benzema, Joao Cancelo, Casemiro, Thibaut Courtois, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Luis Diaz, Fabinho, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Sebastian Haller, Harry Kane, Joshua Kimmich, Rafael Leao, Robert Lewandowski, Riyad Mahrez, Mike Maignan, Sadio Mane, Kylian Mbappe, Luka Modric, Christopher Nkunku, Darwin Nunez, Antonio Rudiger, Mohamed Salah, Bernardo Silva, Son Heung-min, Virgil van Dijk, Vinicius Jr., Dusan Vlahovic.
Women’s Ballon d’Or nominees:
Selma Bacha, Aitana Bonmati, Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Kadidiatou Diani, Christiane Endler, Ada Hegerberg, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Sam Kerr, Catarina Macario, Beth Mead
Vivianne Miedema, Alex Morgan, Lena Oberdorf, Asisat Oshoala, Alexandra Popp, Alexia Putellas, Wendie Renard, Trinity Rodman, Fridolina Rolfo.
Kopa Trophy nominees
Karim Adeyemi, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Gavi, Ryan Gravenberch, Nuno Mendes, Jamal Musiala, Josko Gvardiol, Bukayo Saka, Florian Wirtz
Yachine Trophy nominees
Yassine Bounou, Alisson Becker, Thibaut Courtois, Ederson, Mika Maignan, Edouard Mendy
Manuel Neuer, Jan Oblak, Kevin Trapp, Hugo Lloris.
