Ballon d’Or nominees revealed including Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo – NO Lionel Messi.
The 2022 Ballon d’Or award nominees have been revealed by France Football.
The record-breaking seven-time winner and current recipient of the award, Lionel Messi, has not received a nomination this year.
However, five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, a former Real Madrid teammate who is heavily favored to win the men’s award this year for the first time, are both included.
The Spanish team won the Champions League and La Liga last season under Ancelotti thanks in large part to Benzema, who scored 44 goals in 46 games for Madrid.
With Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane also rumored to be in the running, PSG star Kylian Mbappe is the second favorite among bookmakers to take home the male prize.
Alexia Putellas, a captain for Barcelona, is the woman who is currently receiving the honor. She is one of the favorites to win it a second time around.
Sam Kerr of Chelsea and Vivienne Miedema of Arsenal are also competing for the honor, along with several members of England’s winning Euro 2022 team, including Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead, and Millie Bright.
On October 17, a ceremony will reveal the men’s and women’s award recipients.
Check out the full list of nominees below
Men’s Ballon d’Or award nominees: Thibaut Courtois, Rafael Leao, Christopher Nkunku, Mohamed Salah, Joshua Kimmich, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Vinicius Junior, Bernardo Silva, Luis Diaz, Robert Lewandowski, Riyad Mahrez, Casemiro, Son Heung-min, Fabinho, Karim Benzema, Mike Maignan, Harry Kane, Darwin Nunez, Phil Foden, Sadio Mane, Sébastien Haller, Luka Modric, Antonio Rudiger, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Dusan Vlahovic, Virgil van Dijk, João Cancelo, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland.
Kopa Trophy nominees
Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Gavi (Barcelona), Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern Munich), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Yashin Trophy nominees: Yassine Bounou (Sevilla), Alisson Becker (Liverpool), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Ederson (Manchester City), Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Edouard Mendy (Chelsea), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
Women’s Ballon d’Or award nominees
Selma Bacha, Fridolina Rolfo, Vivianne Miedema, Lucy Bronze, Sam Kerr, Christiane Endler, Lena Oberdorf, Kadidiatou Diani, Catarina Macario, Alexia Putellas, Alexandra Popp, Aitana Bonmati, Wendie Renard, Alex Morgan, Beth Mead, Asisat Oshoala, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Millie Bright, Trinity Rodman, Ada Hegerberg
