They are still there, although the zenith of their careers has already passed and the impression is that the era of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is coming to an end. This is supported by the latest news: France Football magazine published a list of 30 candidates for the Ballon d’Or, and there is no Portuguese striker on it! For the first time since 2003, Ronaldo is not in the selection for the best football player on the planet. Let’s remind you, since last season the system has changed, and for the second time in history since the award is given, the results achieved during the calendar year will not be taken into account, but in the season, and Ronaldo left Manchester United in the middle of the same 2022/23 and continued his career in Al Nassr.
His biggest rival Lionel Messi is still there, moreover, according to many, he is one of the biggest favorites, thanks to the World Cup he won with Argentina, and the biggest threat on the way to winning the eighth Ballon d’Or is Erling Haaland. The Norwegian also has a strong case – the treble won with Manchester City. The most players on the list are coming from the current Premier League and the Champions League champion, Manchester City, as many as seven. Real Madrid has three of them, as well as Inter and Bayern, with the fact that two members of the Munich club arrived in the team only this summer (Harry Kane and Kim Min-jae). Primarily thanks to the successes with the national team, two Croatian footballers, Joško Guardiol and Luka Modrić, were aslo on the list.
LIST OF ALL 30 CANDIDATES: Julián Alvarez (Man. City), Niccolo Barella (Inter), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (Al Ittihad), Yassin Bounu (Al Hilal), Kevin De Bruyne (Man. City), Ruben Diaz (Man. City), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona), Josko Guardiol (Man. City), Erling Haaland (Man. City), Harry Kane (Bayern), Randal Kolo Muani (Paris Saint-Germain), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Kim Min-jae (Bayern), Luka Modrić (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern), Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), Andre Onana (Man. United), Victor Osimhen (Napoli), Rodri (Man. City), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Man. City), Vinicius (Real Madrid).
