The 30-strong Ballon d’Or nomination list is out, missing record-breaking Messi

Football’s Ballon d’Or is traditionally one of the most watched events on the planet. This year’s nominations have already gotten out, and they’ve yielded some big surprises. The 30-strong list is missing not only Brazilian Neymar, but also his PSG teammate and seven-time winner Lionel Messi.

On the other hand, the main favourite Karim Benzema is on the list. The French striker has La Liga and Champions League titles to his name. Benzema has scored fifteen goals in twelve matches in the battle for the Eared Cup alone.

His twenty-seven goals in Spanish competition helped Real Madrid to another title. Even so, the Frenchman will be hard to compete with. Hope could lie with his teammate, goalkeeper Thibault Courtois, whose saves accounted for much of the team’s success.

But the question remains whether the goalkeeper will get the opportunity to at least challenge Benzema. Especially when there are other hungry players waiting behind Benzema. Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is one of them, with five more of his teammates on the nomination list.

Barcelona’s new signing Robert Lewandowski can also be found in the list. Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are also included. As far as the spearhead strikers are concerned, PSG’s Kylian Mbappé is the only representative, Erling Haaland could also be high.

Unlike Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo fit the shortlist. But the famous Portuguese doesn’t have much of a chance. In fact, Manchester United have not won any cups, have not qualified for the Champions League and have not shown a good game despite the Ronaldo factor.

Apart from Messi, there are other big names missing. For example, goalkeeper Alisson, midfielder Pedri and defender Thiago Silva are not in the list. So once again it turns out that choosing the top 30 is not an easy task.

The announcement of the poll will come on Monday 17 October 2022. Whether Karim Benzema, Kevin de Bruyne or someone else will win the prestigious award is not yet clear. Who is competing for the Ballon d’Or, we already know.

Source: Ballon d’Or