France Football magazine has unveiled the 30 candidates for the 2022 Ballon d’Or award. The award will be awarded on October 17, 2022 in Paris.
Current winner Lionel Messi is not on the list. The record seven-time Ballon d’Or winner had a tough first season adapting to Ligue 1. It is the first time he has not made the list since 2006.
Neymar is not on the list.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema is the betting man’s favourite to win the title after leading his side to the UEFA Champions League and La Liga title, finishing as top scorer in both competitions.
The full list of the 2022 Ballon d’Or nominees:
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Rafael Leao (AC Milan)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Fabinho (Liverpool)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich then FC Barcelona)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
Luis Diaz (FC Porto then Liverpool)
Heung-min Son (Tottenham)
Casemiro (Real Madrid)
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Sadio Mané (Liverpool then Bayern Munich),
Darwin Nunez (Benfica then Liverpool)
Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Sébastien Haller (Ajax then Borussia Dortmund)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea then Real Madrid)
Joao Cancelo (Manchester City)
Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund then Manchester City)
Kylian Mbappé (PSG)
Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool)
Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina then Juventus)
BALLON D’OR FEMININ NOMINEES
Selma Bacha (Lyon)
Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona)
Millie Bright (Chelsea)
Lucy Bronze (Barcelona)
Kadidiatou Diani (PSG)
Christiane Endler (Lyon)
Ada Hegerberg (Lyon)
Marie-Antoinette Katoto (PSG)
Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
Catarina Macario (Lyon)
Beth Mead (Arsenal)
Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal)
Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave)
Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg)
Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona)
Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg)
Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Wendie Renard (Lyon)
Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit)
Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona)
KOPA TROPHY NOMINEES
Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund)
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid)
Gavi (Barcelona)
Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern Munich)
Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig)
Nuno Mendes (PSG)
Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
YACHINE TROPHY NOMINEE
Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Ederson (Manchester City)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
Edouard Mendy (Chelsea)
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt)
