Ballon d’Or is the highest individual award for footballers. It is an honor for any player to receive the trophy. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo took the trophy for the last one and a half century.
Lionel Messi, the World Cup-winning Argentine captain, has held the special trophy a record eight times. Then there is the Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo. These two together have accumulated 13 trophies in their showcase. Now that they are older, they are in the twilight of their careers. These two have already said goodbye to Europe. One is drinking the Saudi Pro League, another is drinking the US MLS.
The recently concluded Copa-Euro tournament. After the two big tournaments in Europe and Latin, there has been a big change in the calculation of 2024 Ballon d’Or. Copa title winner Lionel Messi is on Goal.com’s shortlist but is not in a very favorable position. Euro has played a big role in this year’s Ballon d’Or. Spain’s Rodri broke Harry Kane-Judd Bellingham’s dream and became a hero. Besides, Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal are also in the race to win the Ballon d’Or.
Meanwhile, France Football magazine recently revealed the names of 30 hopefuls for the Ballon d’Or. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are nowhere to be found. Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham are considered favorites for this year’s trophy. As expected, they are in the list of 30 people. Notables in this list include Federico Valverde, Emiliano Martinez, Arling Haaland, Toni Kroos, Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane, Dani Carvajal, Kylian Mbappe.
Vinicius, Jude Bellingham, Toni Kroos won La Liga and Champions League for Real Madrid last season. After that, they also won the Spanish Super Cup. Vinny reached the quarter-finals of the Copa America for Brazil, Bellingham’s England finished runners-up at the Euros. Carvajal’s Spain win the Euro title.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi has won the Copa America for Argentina this year. As a result, many thought that he could be in the Ballon d’Or list. But in the end, the Argentine superstar dropped out. Through this, the reign of the Messi-Ronaldo duo was interrupted after almost two decades. Ronaldo was left out of the 30-man list last year. Every year since 2003, one of the two has made the top 30 list.
Short list of 30 footballers
Jude Bellingham, Hakan Kalhanglu, Dani Carvajal, Ruben Diaz, Artem Dovbic, Phil Foden, Alejandro Grimaldo, Arling Haaland, Matt Hummels, Harry Kane, Toni Kroos, Ademola Lookman, Amy Martinez, Lautaro Martinez, Kylian Mbappe, Martin Odegaard, Dani Olmo , Cole Palmer, Decline Rice, Rodry, Antonio Rudiger, Bucayo Saka, William Saliba, Federico Valverde, Vinicius Jr., Vitinha, Nico Williams, Florian Wirtz, Granith Xhaka and Lamine Yamal.
10 people have been nominated for the best goalkeeper. They are – Diego Costa, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Gregor Kobel, Andre Lunin, Mike Maignan, Georgi Mamardakvili, Amy Martinez, Unai Simon, Ian Sommer and Ronwen Williams.
