Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi Fail To Feature In Ballon d'Or nominations For First Time In Two Decades

Lionel Messi may be considered by many as the greatest soccer player of all time, but the Argentina star was omitted from the list of nominations to win this year's Ballon d'Or award, the sport's most prized individual honour. The record eight-time winner and holder of the trophy did not feature Wednesday in a list of 30 players in the running for the award, which will be presented Oct. 28.

New Delhi (India): For the first time in the last two decades football legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are out of the race to win the prestigious Ballon d'Or award as both greats didn't feature in the list of nominations.

Messi, last year's winner, has won the Ballon d'Or award record eight times while the Portuguese veteran received the award six times.

Ronaldo, who then played for Manchester United, had won his first Ballon d'Or in 2008. Interestingly, he still holds the record of the last Premier League player to claim the top prize. He next won prestigious awards in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. On the other hand, Messi bagged his first in 2009 and was nominated for 16 years. The other awards came in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2023. Notably, both Ronaldo and Messi were part of the Ballon d'Or dream team in 2020.

Among the list of 30 players, six players from England are nominated including Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Harry Kane, Phil Foden, and Declan Rice are all in contention.

There are also six players from the Euro 2024 champions Spain Rodri, Dani Carvajal, Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, Dani Olmo, and Alejandro Grimaldo who will be competing for the prestigious prize. Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior is also a favourite to win the award while Kylian Mbappe is also on the list along with Manchester City's Erling Haaland.

They're all here!

But... who should win it? #ballondor pic.twitter.com/SrkHBrJtuI

— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) September 4, 2024

The golden glove winner of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Emiliano Martinez, has also made the cut to feature in the list.

The list of 30 players who are nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or are:
Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Rodri, Dani Carvajal, Bukayo Saka, Ruben Dias, William Saliba, Fede Valverde, Cole Palmer, Lamine Yamal, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Toni Kroos, Martin Odegaard, Emiliano Martinez, Granit Xhaka, Artem Dovbyk, Harry Kane, Mats Hummels, Hakan Calhanoglu, Nico Williams, Phil Foden, Florian Wirtz, Dani Olmo, Declan Rice, Vitinha, Ademola Lookman, Lautaro Martinez, Alejandro Grimaldo, Antonio Rudiger.

Read More