Lionel Messi misses out on the Ballon d’or for the first time since 2005. The 2021 ballon d’or winner and teammate Neymar Jr missed the 31-man list, only Kylian Mpappe made the list as a PSG representative.
Four African players made the provisional squad for this year. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, Sebastien Haller and Riyad Marhez are African representatives in the provided lists.
Real Madrid forward, Karim Benzema, seems to be the favourite to win the most prestigious individual award after the French forward helped Real Madrid lift the UEFA Champions League and La Liga with two other trophies this year.
The winner of the award, which is voted on by international journalists, will be revealed at a ceremony in Paris on October 17.
In a change of format, the vote is based on a player’s achievements during the 2021-22 season, rather than the calendar year.
2022 Ballon d’Or nominees:
Thibaut Courtois, Rafael Leao, Christopher Nkunku, Mohamed Salah, Joshua Kimmich, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Vinicius Jr, Bernardo Silva, Luis Diaz, Robert Lewandowski, Riyad Mahrez, Casemiro, Heung-Min Son, Fabinho, Karim Benzema, Mike Maignan, Harry Kane, Darwin Nunez, Phil Foden, Sadio Mane, Sebastien Haller, Luka Modric, Antonio Rudiger, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Dusan Vlahovic, Virgil van Dijk, Joao Cancelo, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland.
