The 30 Candidates for the 2022 Ballon d’Or have been chosen! Benzema, C. Ronaldo and Song selected. Messi was not selected.

Last Updated on 08/13/2022 by てんしょく飯

The 30 candidates for the 2022 Ballon d’Or, sponsored by France Football, have been announced.

The Ballon d’Or, which has been held annually since 1956, is the most prestigious individual title in football, awarded to the most successful player of the year. The award, which was cancelled two years ago due to the new Corona virus, was held for the first time in two years last year, and Lionel Messi won the trophy for the seventh time, the most in history.

Messi was left out of the 30 nominees for the first time since 2005.

However, there was much skepticism about Messi winning the award, and the rules will be drastically changed starting with the Ballon d’Or in 2022. The European football season will be the eligible period instead of the traditional calendar year, and the importance of the trophy will also be less reflected in the voting.

The 2022 Ballon d’Or will be the first time since 2005 that Messi, a seven-time winner, has been left out of the 30 candidates. His Paris Saint-Germain teammate Neymar has also been left out.

In a major shakeup at the nomination stage, six Real Madrid players, including Karim Benzema, who is considered to be in pole position for this year’s Ballon d’Or, will be among the 30 nominees. The list also includes regulars such as Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have moved to Barcelona. In addition, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min is the only Asian on the list.

The 2022 Ballon d’Or will be awarded at a ceremony on October 17, during which the winner will be announced.

The 30 candidates for the 2022 Ballon d’Or are as follows

• Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool)
• Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid)
• Joao Cancelo (Portugal/Manchester City)
• Casemiro (Brazil/Real Madrid)
• Thibaut Courtois (Belgium/Real Madrid)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Manchester United)
• Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City)
• Luis Diaz (Colombia / Porto → Liverpool)
• Fabinho (Brazil/Liverpool)
• Phil Foden (England/Manchester City)
• Erling Harland (Norway / Dortmund → Manchester City)
• Sebastian Haller (Ivory Coast / Ajax → Dortmund)
• Harry Kane (England / Tottenham)
• Joshua Kimmich (Germany/Bayern Munich)
• Raphael Leon (Portugal/Milan)
• Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich → Barcelona)
• Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City)
• Mike Menyan (France/Milan)
• Sadio Mane (Senegal / Liverpool → Bayern Munich)
• Kylian Embarpe（France/Paris Saint Germain)
• Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid)
• Christopher Enkunku (France/RB Leipzig)
• Darwin Nunez (Uruguay / Benfica → Liverpool)
• Antonio Rüdiger (Germany / Chelsea → Real Madrid)
• Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool)
• Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City)
• Heung-Min Son (Korea / Tottenham)
• Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool)
• Vinicius Junior (Brazil/Real Madrid)
• Dušan Vlahović (Serbia / Fiorentina → Juventus)