Ballon d'Or shortlist without Menaldo in 21 years, no SON-KIM
Sep 05, 2024
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France Football, which hosts the Ballon d'Or, released a list of candidates for each Ballon d'Or category in 2024 on the 5th (Korea time).
There has been a change in Gyeongcheon from 30 male candidates, which is the biggest interest. Two-top, who has commanded the world's soccer community for the past 20 years, Lionel Messi, who has won the most awards in the Ballon d'Or eight times, and Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time winner, have been excluded from the list side by side. It is the first time in 21 years that Messi and Ronaldo have been excluded from the 30-member Ballon d'Or candidate since 2003.
Messi and Ronaldo have established themselves as rivals of the century, sharing five awards each for 10 years from 2008 to 2017. Ronaldo slowed down after his last win in 2017, but Messi showed off his strong performance by lifting the Ballon d'Or trophy three more times until last year. However, as Messi moved to the U.S. Major League Soccer and Ronaldo to the Saudi Super League, he naturally moved away from the European soccer-oriented Ballon d'Or.
"Messi and Ronaldo are still playing for the national team, but they have performed poorly in international competitions. Ronaldo's performance was unsatisfactory at Euro 2024, Messi won the 2024 Copa America, but his chances of making the shortlist are dwindling" he said.
Meanwhile, Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae, who drew the attention of domestic fans, were also not listed on the 30-member candidate list. Son Heung-min was nominated twice in 2019 and 2022, and Kim Min-jae was included in the 2023 list. There was no Asian player on the list of 30 Ballon d'Or players.
This year's Ballon d'Or 30-member list included six players each from Spain, the winner of Euro 2024, and England, the runner-up. Spain's Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Alejandro Grimaldo (Leverkusen), Dani Olmo (Leifchi, Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City, hereinafter Manchester City), Nico Williams (Bilbao), and Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) were nominated, while England's Phil Foden (Man City), Harry Kane (Munich), Cole Palmer (Man City, Chelsea), Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka (Arsenals), and Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) were named.Meanwhile, 「Monster Striker"Elling Holan (Man City), who ranked second in the vote after Messi last year, will be nominated again and try to win his first career award.
The winners of the 2024 Ballon d'Or will be announced on October 28 local time.
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