There are no Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the Ballon d’Or nominees list for the first time since 2003 as the 30 players up for the award released on September 4, Wednesday.
A streak of over 20 years has come to an end as neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo was part of the 2024 Ballon d’Or nominees list, which was released on September 4, Wednesday. This was the first time since 2003 that both men aren’t part of the list. Messi has won the award a record 8 times with his last win coming in 2023. Ronaldo, on the other hand, has won the prestigious award 5 times.
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The Portuguese superstar, who currently plays in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Nassr, had made it to the Ballon d’Or list consectuively from 2004 to 2022. Messi received his first nomination for the award in 2006 and had been a fixture since then, apart from 2022. The Argentine followed Ronaldo in moving away from European football last year, as he made the switch to MLS with Inter Miami.
Interestingly, Ronaldo had scored 54 goals for club and country last season, putting him in the top scorers list. Ronaldo had won his first Ballon d’Or in 2008 while he was playing for Manchester United and remains the last Premier League star to claim the top prize.
The final list of 30, which was released on Wednesday, includes some big names with Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Toni Kroos and Vinicius Jr. being the standouts. Erling Haaland, who finished as the Premier League top scorer last season, is also another notable name in the list that was released on Wednesday.
Ballon d’Or 2024: Full nominees list
- Jude Bellingham
- Ruben Dias
- Phil Foden
- Federico Valverde
- Emiliano Martinez
- Nico Williams
- Erling Haaland
- Toni Kroos
- Granit Xhaka
- Artem Dovbik
- Dani Olmo
- Vinicius Jr
- Martin Odegaard
- Mats Hummels
- Florian Wirtz
- Harry Kane
- Rodri
- Declan Rice
- Vitinha
- Cole Palmer
- Lamine Yamal
- Dani Carvajal
- Bukayo Saka
- Hakan Calhanoglu
- William Saliba
- Kylian Mbappe
- Lautaro Martinez
- Ademola Lookman
- Antonio Rudiger
- Alejandro Grimaldo
The winner of the men’s Ballon d’Or will be announced on October 28.
