France Football has announced the wider nominations for the Ballon d’Or! Who is among the 30 chosen?

The Ballon d’Or was cancelled a year ago, so no one won it. That makes this year’s poll all the more anticipated. France Football published the wider nominations on Friday night. Who’s not missing?

In 2020, France Football did not award the Ballon d’Or to anyone, the one-year hiatus was forced by the coronavirus. Robert Lewandowski was widely expected to win, but he was very unlucky.

He would certainly like to make amends this year, but he will have a bit more competition. In fact, there are many footballers who are performing brilliantly and deserve individual awards.

Of course, in addition to Lewandowski, stars such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Romelu Lukaku and Kylian Mbappé will be among the top players. However, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante could also be in the mix.

List of 30 nominees

Cesar Azpilicueta
Nicolo Barella
Karim Benzema
Leonardo Bonucci
Giorgio Chiellini
Kevin De Bruyne
Ruben Dias
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Bruno Fernandes
Phil Foden
Erling Haaland
Jorginho
Harry Kane
N’Golo Kante
Simon Kjaer
Robert Lewandowski
Romelu Lukaku
Riyad Mahrez
Lautaro Martinez
Kylian Mbappé
Lionel Messi
Luka Modric
Gerard Moreno
Mason Mount
Neymar
Pedri
Cristiano Ronaldo
Mohamed Salah
Raheem Sterling
Luis Suarez

When will the winner be announced?

Paris will host the ceremony to announce the best footballer on the planet for 2021 on 29 November.

Other awards

In addition to the Ballon d’Or, two other individual prizes will be awarded. The Kopa Trophy will be awarded to the best young player under 21, while the Yashin Trophy will go to the best goalkeeper.

Nominations for the Kopa Trophy: Mason Greenwood, Bukayo Saka, Pedri, Jeremy Doku, Ryan Gravenberch, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Jude Bellingham, Giovanni Reyna, Nuno Mendes

Yashin Trophy nominees: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ederson, Kasper Schmeichel, Edouard Mendy, Keylor Navas, Emiliano Martínez, Manuel Neuer, Jan Oblak, Samir Handanovic

Source: France Football