France Football will now award its Ballon d’Or, as announced a few month ago, at the end the sports season and not at end of the calendar year, as was usual. The French media revealed the list of 30 finalists on Friday, August 12th. This is the first time since 2005 that the list of 30 finalists has been revealed. Lionel MessiIs not there. He is a genius Argentinian, twice Ballon d’Or winner and seven-time winner of this prestigious distinction. He was the only one to score six goals in Ligue 1 but he also suffered a terrible elimination in 8.eChampions League final. However, his eternal rival Cristiano Rojo is on the list. However, it is almost certain the Portuguese will not win his 6e Golden Ball. He is actually out of a white season at Manchester United. He too was eliminated from C1.
His former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema is certain to be the 2022 Ballon d’Or winning player. The Senegalese is among the finalists. The new Bayern Munich player could be fourth in 2019, and absent from the 30-of the 2021 edition. This is the highest ranking African player since Liberian Georges Weah in 1995. Observers regularly cite the Teranga Lion among the candidates for this podium. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Riyad Mahrez (City, Algeria) and Sébastien Haller are the other Africans present in the list of 30 nominees.
Nominated to the 2022 Ballon d’Or…✨🌕
🇨🇮 @HallerSeb@BVB#ballondor pic.twitter.com/5F6Qn4hNAN
— Ballon d’Or #ballondor (@francefootball) August 12, 2022
The 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or 202022
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid / Belgium)
Rafael Leao (AC Milan / Portugal)
Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig / France)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool / Egypt)
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich / Germany)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool, England)
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid / Brazil)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City/Portugal).
Luis Diaz (Liverpool/Colombia)
Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelona / Poland)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City / Algeria)
Casemiro (Real Madrid / Brazil)
Heung-Min Son (Tottenham / South Korea)
Fabinho (Liverpool / Brazil).
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid / France)
Mike Maignan (AC Milan / France)
Harry Kane (Tottenham/England).
Darwin Nunez (Liverpool / Uruguay)
Phil Foden (Manchester City/England)
Sadio Mané (Bayern Munich / Senegal)
Sebastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund / Ivory Coast)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid / Croatia)
Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid / Germany)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United / Portugal)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City / Belgium).
Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus Turin / Serbia)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool / Netherlands)
João Cancelo (Manchester City / Portugal)
Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain / France
Erling Håland (Manchester City / Norway)
Source: sportnewsafrica
