The shortlist for world football’s most prestigious individual award has been revealed ahead of the ceremony in Paris on October 28, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
There are a host of top names vying to claim the prize that Lionel Messi took home for the eighth time in 2023, with performances not only at club level, but also at the various major tournaments that took place over the past 12 months having been taken into account when selecting this year’s list of potential winners.
Among the names is Nigeria international striker Ademola Lookman who became the first player ever to score a hattrick in the final of an European Cup tournament after his feat for Atalanta in their 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Lookman is the only African player who made the nomination list putting him in pole position to be crowned the Africa player of the year, with his strong performance at the AFCON, where the Super Eagles finished as runners up also key to his chances of replacing his teammate Victor Osimhen.
Ballon d’Or nominees for the top 30 candidates to be voted in October ✨
◉ Jude Bellingham.
◉ Ruben Dias.
◉ Phil Foden.
◉ Federico Valverde.
◉ Emiliano Martínez.
◉ Erling Haaland
◉ Nico Williams
◉ Granit Xhaka
◉ Artem Dovbyk
◉ Toni Kroos
◉ Vinicius Jr
◉ Dani Olmo
◉ Florian Wirtz
◉ Martin Ødegaard
◉ Mats Hummels
◉ Rodri
◉ Harry Kane
◉ Declan Rice
◉ Vitinha
◉ Cole Palmer
◉ Dani Carvajal
◉ Lamine Yamal
◉ Bukayo Saka
◉ Hakan Calhanoglu
◉ William Saliba
◉ Kylian Mbappé
◉ Lautaro Martínez
◉ Ademola Lookman
◉ Toni Rüdiger
◉ Alejandro Grimaldo
