France Football magazine has revealed the 30 candidates for the 2022 Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded on October 17, 2022 in Paris, but PSG star surprisingly Leo Messi is not among them.
Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is also missing from the list.
Messi is the current holder of the award, and will not be in the running for the prize, which will be given before the start of the World Cup in Qatar.
Winner of seven Ballon d’Ors, the most in history, Messi has not missed a final list to lift the trophy since 2006.
The early elimination of his team in the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid in the round of 16 was one of the factors that weighed most heavily on the Argentinian, who missed a penalty kick in that tie.
Neymar is also missing from a list led by Karim Benzema, who is the overwhelming favourite to lift his first Ballon d’Or after playing a key role in helping Real Madrid win LaLiga and the Champions League.
Real Madrid have six nominees on the shortlist, the same as Manchester City and Liverpool.
Ballon d’Or 2022 Nominees
- Benzema, (Real Madrid)
- Courtois, (Real Madrid)
- Vinicius, (Real Madrid)
- Casemiro, (Real Madrid)
- Modric, (Real Madrid)
- Rüdiger, (Real Madrid)
- Salah, (Liverpool)
- Trent Alexander-Arnold, (Liverpool)
- Luis Díaz, (Liverpool)
- Fabinho, (Liverpool)
- Darwin Núñez, (Liverpool)
- Van Dijk, (Liverpool)
- Mahrez, (Manchester City)
- Bernardo Silva, (Manchester City)
- Phil Foden, (Manchester City)
- De Bruyne, (Manchester City)
- Cancelo, (Manchester City)
- Haaland, (Manchester City)
- Lewandowski, (Barcelona)
- Heung-Min Son, (Tottenham)
- Karry Kane, (Tottenham)
- Kimmich, (Bayern Munich)
- Sadio Mané, (Bayern Munich)
- Leao, (AC Milan)
- Mike Maignan, (AC Milan)
- Nkunku, (Leipzig)
- Cristiano Ronaldo, (Manchester United)
- Kylian Mbappe, (PSG)
- Haller, (Borussia Dortmund)
- Vlahovic, (Juventus)
