Jude Bellingham receives Ballon d’Or nomination, while Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are left out

PARIS – Breaking a streak that has lasted since 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have both been omitted from the list of nominees for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award, announced on Sept 4th. Among the 30 players named is England’s rising star, Jude Bellingham.

Portugal’s Ronaldo, who has won the award five times, also failed to receive a nomination in 2023, while Messi, who won for a record eighth time last year and has been nominated 16 times, misses out despite Argentina’s Copa America triumph in 2024.

The former Barcelona superstar, now aged 37 and playing club football in Major League Soccer for Inter Miami, was also missing from the nominees in 2022 when Karim Benzema took the honours.

Spain, winners of Euro 2024, have six players nominated including 17-year-old Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, along with Nico Williams, Alejandro Grimaldo, Dani Olmo, Rodri and Dani Carvajal, who also won the Champions League with Real Madrid.

Real have a total of seven players nominated, including Kylian Mbappe, who recently signed from Paris Saint-Germain, with Bellingham and Brazil’s Vinicius Junior among the Spanish club’s other nominees.

England, runners-up to Spain at Euro 2024 have five other nominees apart from Bellingham: Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden.

Professional Footballers’ Association 2024 winner Foden’s Manchester City teammate Erling Haaland is also among the list of nominees.

In the women’s Ballon d’Or Feminin, Champions League winners Barcelona have six nominees in total, including 2023 winner Aitana Bonmati and two-time winner Alexia Putellas. Former winner Ada Hegerberg is also nominated, along with five members of the United States’ Olympic gold medal-winning team in Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman, Lindsey Horan and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.

Xabi Alonso, who won the Bundesliga in an unbeaten season with Bayer Leverkusen, is among the favourites for best coach. His rivals include Real’s Carlo Ancelotti and Spain’s Luis de la Fuente.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony, to crown the world’s best player, will take place on Oct 28 in Paris. The most prestigious individual award in football is voted for by a jury of journalists from each of the top 100 countries in Fifa’s world ranking. , AFP