France Football magazine unveiled the list of players nominated for the 2022 Ballon d’Or on Friday. A total of 30 men candidates have been nominated for the best player of the season. However Argentinian Lionel Messi and Brazilian Neymar are not among them.
Indeed, among the 30 players named, the Argentinian Lionel Messi, seven times winner and crowned last year, does not appear in the list.
His Brazilian PSG teammate Neymar is also absent. The Ballon d’Or 2022, awarded by France football magazine, will be held on October 17. Frenchman Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) appears to be the big favorite.
Messi has been present among the contenders for the Ballon d’Or since 2006 and on the podium almost continuously since 2007, except in 2018.
But the man nicknamed “La Pulga” (35) is coming out of a very complicated first season with PSG.
He only scored 11 goals in all competitions, failing in the knockout stages of the Champions League against Real Madrid. Just like Neymar.
The five-time Portuguese winner Cristiano Ronaldo, whose return to Manchester United last summer was also not a success, is however named.
His ex-Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema, who is a huge favorite to succeed Messi on the list, is also well and truly present.
The Frenchman was the main architect of Real’s 14th coronation in C1, finishing as the competition’s top scorer (15). In 2021/2022, Benzema scored 44 goals in 46 appearances for the Madrid club, also winning the Spanish Championship.
The list of nominees
Trent
1-ALEXANDER-ARNOLD (ENG, Liverpool)
2-Karim BENZEMA (FRA, Real Madrid)
3-Joao CANCELO (POR, Manchester City)
4-CASEMIRO (BRE, Real Madrid)
5-Thibaut COURTOIS (BEL, Real Madrid)
6-CRISTIANO RONALDO (POR, Juventus then Manchester United)
7-Kevin DE BRUYNE (BEL, Manchester City)
8-Luis DIAZ (COL, FC Porto then Liverpool)
9-FABINHO (BRE, Liverpool)
10-Phil FODEN (ENG, Manchester City)
11-Erling HAALAND (NOR, Borussia Dortmund then Manchester City)
12-Sébastien HALLER (CIV, Ajax then Borussia Dortmund)
13-Harry KANE (ENG, Tottenham)
14-Joshua KIMMICH (GER, Bayern Munich)
15-Rafael LEAO (POR, AC Milan)
16-Robert LEWANDOWSKI (POL, Bayern Munich then FC Barcelona)
17-Riyad MAHREZ (ALG, Manchester City)
18-Mike MAIGNAN (FRA, AC Milan)
19-Sadio MANÉ (SEN, Liverpool then Bayern Munich)
20-Kylian MBAPPE (FRA, Paris-SG)
21-Luka MODRIC (CRO, Real Madrid)
22-Christopher NKUNKU (FRA, RB Leipzig)
23-Darwin NUÑEZ (URU, Benfica then Liverpool)
24-Antonio RÜDIGER (GER, Chelsea then Real Madrid)
25-Mohamed SALAH (EGY, Liverpool)
26-Bernardo SILVA (POR, Manchester City)
27-SON Heung-min (CDS, Tottenham)
28-Virgil VAN DIJK (HOL, Liverpool)
29-VINICIUS JUNIOR (BRE, Real Madrid)
30-Dusan VLAHOVIC (SER, Fiorentina then Juventus)
Source: AfrikPage