Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr, Jorginho and N'Golo Kante have been named on the 30-man shortlist for the men's 2021 Ballon d'Or award. They are among the leading contenders for the prize handed out by France Football. Other superstar footballers to get the nod include Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema and Romelu Lukaku.
Six-time winner Messi and Megan Rapinoe grabbed the awards the last time they were held in 2019. Last year the Ballon d'Or event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. While upstaged recently by FIFA's own awards, the Ballon d'Or, whose first recipient was Stanley Matthews in 1956, remains one of the most coveted individual awards in football.
The prestigious Ballon d'Or will be awarded on November 29 in Paris, event organiser France Football magazine had confirmed. Five Chelsea players are included in the 2021 Ballon d'Or list whilst Tottenham's Harry Kane has also been nominated.
Messi carried ex-club Barcelona on his back last season before ending a 21-year association with the Blaugrana by joining Paris Saint-Germain in the summer. Notably, Messi scored 37 goals and 14 assists in 46 appearances this calendar year.
Earlier this year, Messi won his first international honour as he led Argentina to a Copa America triumph in Brazil.
Among Messi's biggest rivals is Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski, who broke Gerd Muller's single-season Bundesliga goal-scoring record with 41 goals in the 2020-21 campaign.
The 2021 European Golden Shoe winner was the leading candidate for the Ballon d'Or in 2020 when he spearheaded Bayern's Treble success, but the award was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Chelsea midfielder Jorginho is another contender, as he played a key role in his side's Champions League triumph as well as Italy's victory at Euro 2020.
Champions League finalists Chelsea and Barcelona lead the nominations for the women's award with five each. Barcelona, who won the Treble last season, are represented by Alexia Putellas, Sandra Panos, Lieke Martens, Irene Paredes and Jennifer Hermoso.
Magdalena Eriksson, Sam Kerr, Pernille Harder, Fleming and Fran Kirby are nominated for 2020-21 Women's Super League winners Chelsea.
England leads the way in nominations for the Kopa Trophy, which celebrates the best men's players who are under 21, with Bukayo Saka, Mason Greenwood and Jude Bellingham nominated.
USMNT and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Gio Reyna was also nominated, as was Spain's Pedri
The Ballon d'Or is a yearly award presided over by France Football. The men's award was first handed out in 1956 to England's Stanley Matthews, and the Ballon d'Or Feminin started in 2018, with Lyon's Ada Hegerberg the inaugural winner.
👏 Leo Messi among the 30 finalists for the #BallondOr.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 8, 2021
Good luck, Leo! pic.twitter.com/9itM1twOWV
It runs parallel with FIFA's The Best award, which started in 2016, carrying on from the FIFA World Player of the Year, which stopped in 2009, as the honours merged for six years to create the FIFA Ballon d'Or.
Since 2008, either Messi or Ronaldo has won the men's award in every season apart from 2018, when it was awarded to Luka Modric. Last year was the first one since its inception when there was no winner.
Ballon d'Or nominees
- Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea, Spain)
- Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan, Italy)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France)
- Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus, Italy)
- Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium)
- Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus, Italy)
- Ruben Dias (Manchester City, Portugal)
- Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG, Italy)
- Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Portugal)
- Phil Foden (Manchester City, England)
- Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, Norway)
- Jorginho (Chelsea, Italy)
- Harry Kane (Tottenham, England)
- N'Golo Kante (Chelsea, France)
- Simon Kjaer (AC Milan, Denmark)
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland)
- Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea, Belgium)
- Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City, Algeria)
- Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan, Argentina)
- Kylian Mbappe (PSG, France)
- Lionel Messi (PSG, Argentina)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia)
- Gerard Moreno (Villarreal, Spain)
- Mason Mount (Chelsea, England)
- Neymar (PSG, Brazil)
- Pedri (Barcelona, Spain)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt)
- Raheem Sterling (Manchester City, England)
- Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid, Uruguay)
Source : India Today