Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi, has missed out on the 2022 Ballon d’Or award after the organisers released the 30-strong list for this year’s coveted football award on Friday.
Messi, who won the title last year, has been an ever-present amongst the nominations since 2006 and a regular feature in the top three since 2007 with the exception of 2018.
A change in the format has also worked against the Argentine superstar with the Ballon d’Or no longer acknowledging the best player over a calendar year.
This followed his switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
After leaving Barcelona in the summer of 2021, Messi was unable to stamp his genius on a PSG team desperate for a Champions League title as the French champions suffered a last-16 exit at the hands of eventual winners, Real Madrid.
In total, Messi scored only 11 goals for PSG with his relatively indifferent club form failing to impress France Football magazine, the organisers of the Ballon d’Or which will be awarded in Paris on October 17.
His teammate, Neymar, also missed out after a season where he scored 13 goals in 28 matches.
French international striker, Karim Benzema, is the overwhelming favourite after being the architect of Real Madrid’s 14th Champions League title.
He finished the European campaign with 15 goals.
READ ALSO: Benzema, Courtois, De Bruyne nominated for UEFA Player of the Year award
Benzema is likely to become the fifth French winner after Raymond Kopa (1958), Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985), Jean-Pierre Papin (1991), and Zinedine Zidane (1998).
In the 2021/2022 season, Benzema scored 44 goals in 46 appearances for a Madrid side which also won the Liga title.
His goal in Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the European Super Cup took the 34-year-old to 324 goals for the Spanish giants.
Benzema is joined on the 30-man list by teammates Thibaut Courtois, Casemiro, 2018 winner Luka Modric, Vinicius, and former Chelsea player, Antonio Rudiger.
Beaten Champions League finalists Liverpool have seven players nominated, the most of any club.
Lucy Bronze, who was runner-up in 2019, is one of three members of England’s Euro-winning squad to be short-listed for the women’s award.
The 30 male nominees:
Trent ALEXANDER-ARNOLD (ANG, Liverpool)
Karim BENZEMA (FRA, Real Madrid)
Joao CANCELO (POR, Manchester City)
CASEMIRO (BRE, Real Madrid)
Thibaut COURTOIS (BEL, Real Madrid)
CRISTIANO RONALDO (POR, Manchester United)
Kevin DE BRUYNE (BEL, Manchester City)
Luis DIAZ (COL, FC Porto puis Liverpool)
FABINHO (BRE, Liverpool)
Phil FODEN (ANG, Manchester City)
Erling HAALAND (NOR, Borussia Dortmund puis Manchester City)
Sebastien HALLER (CIV, Ajax puis Borussia Dortmund)
Harry KANE (ANG, Tottenham)
Joshua KIMMICH (ALL, Bayern Munich)
Rafael LEAO (POR, AC Milan)
Robert LEWANDOWSKI (POL, Bayern Munich FC Barcelone)
Riyad MAHREZ (ALG, Manchester City)
Mike MAIGNAN (FRA, AC Milan)
Sadio MANE (SEN, Liverpool puis Bayern Munich)
Kylian MBAPPE (FRA, Paris-SG)
Luka MODRIC (CRO, Real Madrid)
Christopher NKUNKU (FRA, RB Leipzig)
Darwin NUNEZ (URU, Benfica puis Liverpool)
Antonio RÜDIGER (ALL, Chelsea puis Real Madrid)
Mohamed SALAH (EGY, Liverpool)
Bernardo SILVA (POR, Manchester City)
SON Heung-min (CDS, Tottenham)
Virgil VAN DIJK (HOL, Liverpool)
VINICIUS JUNIOR (BRE, Real Madrid)
Dusan VLAHOVIC (SER, Fiorentina puis Juventus)
The 20 female nominees:
Selma BACHA (FRA, Lyon)
Aitana BONMATI (ESP, FC Barcelone)
Millie BRIGHT (ANG, Chelsea)
Lucy BRONZE (ANG, Manchester City puis FC Barcelone)
Kadidiatou DIANI (FRA, PSG)
Christiane ENDLER (CHL, Lyon)
Ada HEGERBERG (NOR, Lyon)
Marie-Antoinette KATOTO (FRA, PSG)
Sam KERR (AUS, Chelsea)
Catarina MACARIO (USA, Lyon)
Beth MEAD (ANG, Arsenal)
Vivianne MIEDEMA (HOL, Arsenal)
Alex MORGAN (USA, Pride d’Orlando puis Wave de San Diego)
Lena OBERDORF (ALL, VfL Wolfsburg)
Asisat OSHOALA (NGA, FC Barcelone)
Alexandra POPP (ALL, VfL Wolfsburg)
Alexia PUTELLAS (ESP, FC Barcelone)
Wendie RENARD (FRA, Lyon)
Trinity RODMAN (USA, Spirit de Washington)
Fridolina ROLFÖ (SUE, FC Barcelone).
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