France Football magazine revealed the list of players nominated to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or award for the best football player in the world, in the presence of the most prominent stars of the round, in order to succeed the Argentine star Lionel Messi – the title holder of the last edition – and the record holder for the number of times he won the award, with 8 times.
Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were absent from the list of players nominated to win the Golden Ball for the first time since 2003, and this seems to be explained by their advanced age and their exit from the five major European leagues, as the Portuguese plays for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, while the Argentine wears the colors of Inter Miami in the United States.
The award ceremony will be held in the French capital, Paris, specifically at the Chatelet Theatre on October 28, where other awards will be presented, such as Best Goalkeeper, Best Coach, Best Rising Player, and Best Goal, in addition to other honors.
It is expected that international stars in the world of football will attend the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony, which is held in Paris every year, and whose awards have been dominated by the duo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the past years, as the next edition will be the 68th.
The list included 30 players, and witnessed the absence of the duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, something that has not happened in 21 years, as their names, or one of them, have always been present since 2003. Below is the list of nominated players, noting that the ceremony to announce the winner will be held on October 28 in France:
– Jude Bellingham (21, England – Real Madrid): 54 games, 27 goals, 16 assists
– Vinicius Junior (24 years old, Brazil – Real Madrid): 49 matches, 26 goals, 12 assists
– Kylian Mbappé (26, France – Real Madrid): 62 games, 52 goals, 20 assists
– Federico Valverde (26 years old, Uruguay – Real Madrid): 67 matches, 5 goals, 7 assists
– Dani Carvajal (32 years old, Spain – Real Madrid): 54 matches, 7 goals, 7 assists
– Antonio Rudiger (31, Germany – Real Madrid): 62 games, 3 goals, 1 assist
– Toni Kroos (34, Germany – Real Madrid – retired): 56 games, 1 goal, 12 assists
– Bukayo Saka (22, England – Arsenal): 59 games, 21 goals, 16 assists
– William Saliba (23, France – Arsenal): 63 games, 2 goals, 1 assist
– Martin Odegaard (25, Norway – Arsenal): 56 games, 12 goals, 12 assists
– Declan Rice (25, England – Arsenal): 66 games, 7 goals, 10 assists
– Ruben Dias (27, Portugal – Manchester City): 54 games, 1 goal, 1 assist
– Phil Foden (24, England – Manchester City): 69 games, 28 goals, 12 assists
– Erling Haaland (24, Norway – Manchester City): 53 games, 45 goals, 5 assists
– Rodri (28, Spain – Manchester City): 63 games, 12 goals, 14 assists
– Alejandro Grimaldo (28, Spain – Bayer Leverkusen): 57 games, 12 goals, 20 assists
– Florian Wirtz (21, Germany – Bayer Leverkusen): 64 games, 21 goals, 21 assists
– Granit Xhaka (31, Switzerland – Bayer Leverkusen): 65 games, 5 goals, 3 assists
– Dani Olmo (26 years old, Spain – Barcelona): 33 matches, 13 goals, 7 assists
– Lamine Yamal (17 years old, Spain – Barcelona): 65 matches, 10 goals, 14 assists
– Lautaro Martinez (27 years old, Argentina – Internazionale): 60 matches, 35 goals, 4 assists
– Hakan Calhanoglu (30 years old, Turkey – Internazionale): 52 matches, 17 goals, 3 assists
– Mats Hummels (35, Germany – Borussia Dortmund): 42 games, 4 goals, 1 assist
– Harry Kane (31, England – Bayern Munich): 59 games, 52 goals, 13 assists
– Ademola Lookman (26, Nigeria – Atalanta): 61 games, 22 goals, 11 assists
– Emiliano Martinez (32, Argentina – Aston Villa): 62 appearances, 27 clean sheets
– Cole Palmer (22, England – Chelsea): 57 games, 30 goals, 17 assists
– Vitinha (24 years old, Portugal – Paris Saint-Germain): 57 matches, 9 goals, 6 assists
– Nico Williams (22, Spain – Athletic Bilbao): 49 games, 11 goals, 22 assists
– Artem Dovbyk (27, Ukraine – Roma): 54 games, 29 goals, 11 assists
