News from Angola – The name of Cristiano Ronaldo, 38-year-old Portuguese star from the Saudi team, Al-Nassr, is absent, for the first time since 2004, from the list of 30 finalists for the Ballon d’Or, published on Wednesday fair, 6, by France Football.
By: Mateus Sorte
Among those nominated, the highlight is the return of Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), absent last year, and Karim Benzema (Al-Ittihad), holder of the trophy.
Noteworthy is the presence of African strikers Salah (Liverpool) and Victor Osimhen (Naples), as well as goalkeepers Onana (Manchester United) and Bono (Al-Hilal).
The Portuguese from Manchester City of England Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias are other individuals in addition to the Brazilian Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) and another potential candidate Kylian Mbappé (PSG).
are part of the table published by the French magazine Gvardiol (Manchester City), Musiala (Bayern Munich), Saka (Arsenal), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Bellingham (Real Madrid) and Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa).
It also features Haaland (Manchester City), Kvaratskhelia (Naples), Barella (Inter Milan), Odegaard (Arsenal), Gundogan (Barcelona), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), Rodri (Manchester City), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), as well as Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid).
Lewandowski (Barcelona), Kolo Muani (PSG), Kim Min-Jae (Bayern Munich), Luka Modric (Real Madrid) and Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) complete the list of 30.
Last year, the biggest absence was Argentine Lionel Messi, who will be part of the list for the 16th time in his career.
At the Ballon d’Or ceremony scheduled for October 30, in Paris, 15 players, among the 30 nominated, experience the feat for the first time.
Since 2022, the organization has changed some evaluation criteria, giving greater relevance to the achievements of the full season and not of the calendar year, as previously.
As for voting, only journalists from the top 100 positions in the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) rankings have the right to vote.