Ballon d’Or 2024 nominees revealed: Messi & Ronaldo omitted for the first time since 2003

KATHMANDU: The list of nominees for the prestigious Ballon d’Or 2024 has been released, featuring 30 players.

This year marks a notable absence of football legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo from the nominations.

For the first time since 2003, neither the 39-year-old Ronaldo nor the 37-year-old Messi has made it to the list.

Messi, who won the Ballon d’Or eight times, and Ronaldo, a five-time winner, are not included in this year’s nominations.

According to the BBC, England leads the nominations with the highest number of players—six in total.

Nominees:

Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/England)
Ruben Dias (Manchester City/Portugal)
Phil Foden (Manchester City/England)
Federico Valverde (Real Madrid/Uruguay)
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa/Argentina)
Erling Haaland (Manchester City/Norway)
Nico Williams (Athletic Club/Spain)
Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen/Switzerland)
Artem Dovbyk (AS Roma/Ukraine)
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid/Germany)
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid/Brazil)
Dani Olmo (Barcelona/Spain)
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen/Germany)
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal/Norway)
Mats Hummels (Roma/Germany)
Rodri (Manchester City/Spain)
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich/England)
Declan Rice (Arsenal/England)
Vitinha (PSG/Portugal)
Cole Palmer (Chelsea/England)
Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid/Spain)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal/England)
Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter Milan/Turkey)
William Saliba (Arsenal/France)
Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid/France)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan/Argentina)
Ademola Lookman (Atalanta/Nigeria)
Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid/Germany)
Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen/Spain)

The award will be decided by a panel of 100 journalists from the top-ranked countries in FIFA’s World Ranking.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Paris on October 28.