Ballon d’Or : Lookman only African on list, Messi, Ronaldo missing for first time in 21 years

The list of nominees for the 2024 Ballon d’Or has been released ahead of the ceremony in Paris on October 28.

They were announced Wednesday on a L’Equipe live stream.

Interestingly, Nigeria forward, Ademola Lookman, was the only African player nominated.

Real Madrid duo Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham also made the list.

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However, this year marked a notable departure as neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi received a nomination.

The last time both Messi and Ronaldo were simultaneously absent from the Ballon d’Or nominations was in 2003, when the award went to Czech player Pavel Nedved.

Below are the players who have been shortlisted for football’s ultimate individual honour:

Antonio Rudiger – Real Madrid

Kylian Mbappe – Real Madrid

Lautaro Martinez – Inter

Ademola Lookman – Atalanta

Alejandro Grimaldo – Bayer Leverkusen

Dani Carvajal – Real Madrid

William Saliba – Arsenal

Lamine Yamal – Barcelona

Bukayo Saka – Arsenal

Hakan Calhanoglu – Inter

Rodri – Man City

Declan Rice- Arsenal

Harry Kane – Bayern Munich

Cole Palmer – Chelsea

Vitinha – PSG

Vinicius Jr – Real Madrid

Martin Odegaard – Arsenal

Dani Olmo – Barcelona

Florian Wirtz – Bayer Leverkusen

Mats Hummels – Roma

Erling Haaland – Man City

Nicolas Williams – Athletic Bilbao

Granit Xhaka – Bayer Leverkusen

Artem Dovbik – Roma

Toni Kroos – Real Madrid

Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid

Phil Foden – Man City

Ruben Dias – Man City

Federico Valverde – Real Madrid

Emiliano Martinez – Aston VIlla