Superstar footballers, Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr who are the iconic duo of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) football club, have been snubbed by the stakeholders as the 2022 Ballon d’Or panel released its 30-man shortlist for the awards this year.
This will also be the first time in a decade that the Argentine international, Messi, will not be included in the shortlist. He also has the records of having won the most Ballons d’Or awards in history.
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Despite scoring 11 goals in 34 matches for Paris Saint-Germain last season, he wasn’t included in the list.
His team-mate Neymar is also not on the list. He played just 28 times for PSG last season in an injury-hit campaign.
Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Karim Benzema made the list.
2022 BALLON D’OR NOMINEES
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madird)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Rafael Leao (AC Milan)
Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Luis Diaz (Liverpool)
Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
Casemiro (Real Madrid)
Heung-Min Son (Tottenham)
Fabinho (Liverpool)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich)
Sebastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Joao Cancelo (Manchester City)
Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
The winner will be crowned at the Ballon d’Or ceremony on October 17 in Paris.