2022 Ballon d’Or: Ronaldo in as Messi misses nomination for first time in 17 years
Lionel Messi has been left out of the Ballon d’Or 30-man shortlist for the first time since 2005.
The list was announced on Friday.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema lead the list alongside Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
In the women’s category, Asisat Oshoala, Super Falcons striker, made the list — becoming the first female African player to achieve the feat in history.
The 27-year-old Nigerian was nominated for the award because of her exploits with Barcelona Femeni during the just concluded 2021/22 season.
Oshoala won the golden boot in the Spanish Primera Division, despite missing three months of the season due to recurring injuries.
She scored 20 goals in 19 league appearances for Barcelona Femeni and shared the award with Geyse Ferreira of Madrid CFF, who netted 20 goals in 27 appearances.
Other nominees for the women’s Ballon d’Or include Chelsea’s Mille Bright, Alex Morgan of the USA, and the France quartet of Selma Bacha, Kadidiatou Diani, Wendie Renard, and Marie Katoto
FULL LIST
Men’s nominees
- Trent Alexander-Arnold
- Karim Benzema
- Joao Cancelo
- Casemiro
- Thibaut Courtois
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Kevin De Bruyne
- Luis Diaz
- Fabinho
- Phil Foden
- Erling Haaland
- Sébastien Haller
- Harry Kane
- Joshua Kimmich
- Rafael Leao
- Robert Lewandowski
- Riyad Mahrez
- Mike Maignan
- Sadio Mané
- Kylian Mbappé
- Luka Modric
- Christopher Nkunku
- Darwin Nuñez
- Antonio Rüdiger
- Mohamed Salah
- Bernardo Silva
- Son Heung-min
- Virgil van Dijk
- Vinicius Junior
- Dusan Vlahovic
Women’s nominees
- Mille Bright
- Alex Morgan
- Selma Bacha
- Kadidiatou Diani
- Wendie Renard
- Marie Katoto.
- Vivianne Miedema
- Lucy Bronze
- Sam Kerr
- Alexandra Popp
- Aitana Bonmati
- Wendie Renard
- Trinity Rodman
- Fridolina Rolfö
- Christiane Endler
- Lena Oberdorf
- Catarina Macario
- Alexia Putellas
- Asisat Oshoala
The winners of both categories will be announced on October 17.
