Messi, Ronaldo on Ballon d'Or shortlist, reigning winner Modric misses out
France Football unveiled the nominees for the sport's most prestigious individual award on Monday.
The French magazine rolled out the 30 finalists for the Ballon d'Or distinction in lists of five, with seven players from Champions League winners Liverpool making the cut alongside a slew of familiar names.
Luka Modric captured the honor last year to end Lionel Messi's and Cristiano Ronaldo's combined 10-year reign over the annual award. He played an influential role in winning the Champions League with Real Madrid before guiding Croatia to the World Cup finals in 2018.
Modric misses out on this season's shortlist, however, with Harry Kane, Paul Pogba, and Neymar also among the notable absentees.
View the final list of nominees below:
| Player | Club | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Frenkie de Jong | Barcelona | Netherlands |
| Hugo Lloris | Tottenham | France |
| Dusan Tadic | Ajax | Serbia |
| Sergio Aguero | Manchester City | Argentina |
| Sadio Mane | Liverpool | Senegal |
| Donny van de Beek | Ajax | Netherlands |
| Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Arsenal | Gabon |
| Marc-Andre ter Stegen | Barcelona | Germany |
| Trent Alexander-Arnold | Liverpool | England |
| Kylian Mbappe | Paris Saint-Germain | France |
| Matthijs de Ligt | Juventus | Netherlands |
| Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | France |
| Georginio Wijnaldum | Liverpool | Netherlands |
| Alisson | Liverpool | Brazil |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus | Portugal |
| Heung-min Son | Tottenham | South Korea |
| Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Poland |
| Roberto Firmino | Liverpool | Brazil |
| Bernardo Silva | Manchester City | Portugal |
| Virgil van Dijk | Liverpool | Netherlands |
| Kevin De Bruyne | Manchester City | Belgium |
| Kalidou Koulibaly | Napoli | Senegal |
| Antoine Griezmann | Barcelona | France |
| Riyad Mahrez | Manchester City | Algeria |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | Argentina |
| Marquinhos | Paris Saint-Germain | Brazil |
| Raheem Sterling | Manchester City | England |
| Joao Felix | Atletico Madrid | Portugal |
| Eden Hazard | Real Madrid | Belgium |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | Egypt |
France Football also unveiled a 20-woman shortlist for the second Women's Ballon d'Or, with French side Lyon boasting six of the nominees:
| Player | Club | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Nilla Fischer | Wolfsburg | Sweden |
| Amandine Henry | Lyon | France |
| Lucy Bronze | Lyon | England |
| Ellen White | Manchester City | England |
| Sam Kerr | Chicago Red Stars | Australia |
| Dzsenifer Marozsan | Lyon | Germany |
| Pernille Harper | Wolfsburg | Denmark |
| Sarah Bouhaddi | Lyon | France |
| Vivianne Miedema | Arsenal | Netherlands |
| Alex Morgan | Orlando Pride | United States |
| Sari van Veenendaal | Atletico Madrid | Netherlands |
| Wendie Renard | Lyon | France |
| Rose Lavelle | Washington Spirit | United States |
| Lieke Martens | Barcelona | Netherlands |
| Megan Rapinoe | Reign FC | United States |
| Kosovare Asslani | CD Tacon | Sweden |
| Sofia Jakobsson | CD Tacon | Sweden |
| Tobin Heath | Portland Thorns | United States |
| Ada Hegerberg | Lyon | Norway |
| Marta | Orlando Pride | Brazil |
Hegerberg won the inaugural Women's Ballon d'Or last season.
The French outlet also revealed the second running of a young player award named after Les Bleus legend Raymond Kopa, and among the 10 nominees younger than 21, Dutch defender De Ligt stands out.
| Player | Club | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Moise Kean | Everton | Italy |
| Samuel Chukwueze | Villarreal | Nigeria |
| Kang-in Lee | Valencia | South Korea |
| Jadon Sancho | Borussia Dortmund | England |
| Joao Felix | Atletico Madrid | Portugal |
| Kai Havertz | Bayer Leverkusen | Germany |
| Matteo Guendouzi | Arsenal | France |
| Andriy Lunin | Real Vallodolid | Ukraine |
| Vinicius Jr. | Real Madrid | Brazil |
| Matthijs de Ligt | Juventus | Netherlands |
PSG star Mbappe captured the inaugural edition of the Kopa trophy.
Joining the trio of individual honors is the first edition of the Lev Yashin award for the best goalkeeper. Two shot-stoppers from each of Brazil, Germany, and Slovenia have been nominated.
| Player | Club | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Ederson | Manchester City | Brazil |
| Andre Onana | Ajax | Cameroon |
| Wojciech Szczesny | Juventus | Poland |
| Manuel Neuer | Bayern Munich | Germany |
| Alisson | Liverpool | Brazil |
| Samir Handanovic | Inter | Slovenia |
| Hugo Lloris | Tottenham | France |
| Marc-Andre ter Stegen | Barcelona | Germany |
| Kepa Arrizabalaga | Chelsea | Spain |
| Jan Oblak | Atletico Madrid | Slovenia |
The ceremony is scheduled to take place Dec. 2 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.