Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not among the 30 nominees for the men’s Ballon d’Or award, which was announced on Wednesday, marking the first time since 2003 that this has happened.
While Messi, who won for a record eighth time in 2023 and has been nominated sixteen times, is left out despite Argentina’s Copa America victory this year, Ronaldo, who has won the honor five times, also did not earn a nomination last year.
Six players from Spain—the 2024 Champions—have been nominated, including Nico Williams, Alejandro Grimaldo, Dani Olmo, Rodri, and Dani Carvajal, a 17-year-old Barcelona winger who also won the Champions League with Real Madrid.
Seven players have been nominated for Real Madrid, including the recently-signed Kylian Mbappe from Paris St. Germain. Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior from Brazil are the other two nominees for the Spanish team.
Aside from Bellingham, England, who finished second to Spain in the 2024 European Championship, has five other nominees: Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, and Phil Foden.
Champions League champions Barcelona had six nominees overall for the women’s Ballon d’Or Feminin, including two-time winner Alexia Putellas and last year’s winner Aitana Bonmati.
The 2024 Ballon d’Or Awards ceremony, which will determine who the best player in the world is, will take place in Paris on October 28.
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