For the first time since 2005, Cristiano Ronaldo is not on the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or award by French magazine France Football.
 |
| The 2023 Ballon d'Or award is organized by French magazine France Football. (Source: GettyImages) |
On the evening of September 6, French magazine France Football (the organizer of the Golden Ball award) announced the shortlist of 30 male players nominated for the world's most prestigious title in 2023.
Striker Ronaldo (who left Man Utd last November to play in Saudi Arabia) was not nominated for the Ballon d'Or for the first time since 2005.
CR7 scored 20 goals and assisted 7 goals in 24 matches last season, and Portugal was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
Another star, Neymar, was also not nominated and was absent from the Ballon d'Or shortlist for the second consecutive time. Last season, he only had 18 goals and 17 assists in 29 matches for PSG, lost with Brazil to Croatia in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup and recently moved to Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal Club.
Notably, Inter Miami star Lionel Messi is back in contention after being surprisingly left out of the 30-man shortlist for the world's most prestigious award in 2022.
The Argentine star is even the brightest candidate to win the 2023 Ballon d'Or, as he won the Ligue 1 championship with PSG and the 2022 World Cup with Argentina last December.
Messi's toughest rival is Erling Haaland, the player who scored 52 goals in 53 matches in all competitions, helping Man City win a historic treble: Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
The Norwegian striker won all individual titles, including the 2022/2023 Premier League Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year, awarded by the tournament organizers, the English Football Player of the Season voted by the Football Writers' Association (FWA) and the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), the Champions League Top Scorer, and the European Golden Shoe.
Haaland is among six Man City players nominated for the Ballon d'Or. The other five Man City players are Kevin de Bruyne, Rodri, Ruben Dias, Julian Alvarez, Josko Gvardiol and Bernardo Silva.
England internationals Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham are also shortlisted after impressive performances throughout 2023.
In addition to the 30 candidates for the men's Ballon d'Or, on September 6, France Football also announced the list of candidates for the women's Ballon d'Or, the Kopa award (best U21 player) and the Les Yashin award (best goalkeeper).
At the Women's Ballon d'Or, Aitana Bonmati is the strongest candidate after winning the UEFA Player of the Year award and the 2023 World Cup Golden Ball. She was a pillar in helping Barcelona win the Women's Champions League last season and just won the 2023 Women's World Cup with the Spanish women's team in Australia and New Zealand.
In the Kopa Cup, Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala will have to compete with Barcelona stars Gavi, Pedri and Alejandro Balde and Man Utd's $94 million new signing Rasmus Hojlund.
Meanwhile, Emiliano Martinez (the hero who brought Argentina to the top at the 2022 World Cup) will compete with Marc Andre Ter Stegen, Thibaut Courtois, Mike Maignan, Yassine Bounou, Aaron Ramsdale, Andre Onana, Ederson, Brice Samba and Dominik Livakovic for the Les Yashin award.
Source
Comment (0)