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Messi snubbed as 30 finalists are unveiled for Ballon d'Or

KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP / Getty

Lionel Messi, winner of a record seven Ballon d'Or awards, has been left off the list of 30 nominees for the best male player in 2022.

It's the first time he's not featured on a Ballon d'Or shortlist since 2005.

Messi, 35, moved to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona last summer after winning the Copa America with Argentina. He scored 11 goals and tallied 14 assists for Les Parisiens across Ligue 1 and Champions League play in 2021-22. He ended the season with a Ligue 1 winners medal, in addition to an early-season triumph in France's Trophee des Champions.

Players from Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Liverpool unsurprisingly feature heavily in the list released by France Football on Friday.

2022 Men's Ballon d'Or nominees

Player Club Country
Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool England
Karim Benzema Real Madrid France
Joao Cancelo Manchester City Portugal
Casemiro Real Madrid Brazil
Thibaut Courtois Real Madrid Belgium
Luis Diaz Liverpool/FC Porto Colombia
Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City Belgium
Fabinho Liverpool Brazil
Phil Foden Manchester City England
Erling Haaland Manchester City Norway
Sebastien Haller Borussia Dortmund/Ajax Ivory Coast
Harry Kane Tottenham Hotspur England
Joshua Kimmich Bayern Munich Germany
Rafael Leao AC Milan Portugal
Robert Lewandowski Barcelona/Bayern Munich Poland
Riyad Mahrez Manchester City Algeria
Mike Maignan AC Milan France
Sadio Mane Bayern Munich/Liverpool Senegal
Kylian Mbappe Paris Saint-Germain France
Luka Modric Real Madrid Croatia
Christopher Nkunku RB Leipzig France
Darwin Nunez Liverpool/Benfica Uruguay
Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United Portugal
Antonio Rudiger Real Madrid/Chelsea Germany
Mohamed Salah Liverpool Egypt
Bernardo Silva Manchester City Portugal
Son Heung-Min Tottenham Hotspur South Korea
Vinicius Junior Real Madrid Brazil
Virgil van Dijk Liverpool Netherlands
Dusan Vlahovic Juventus/Fiorentina Serbia

Other standout footballers not considered for the 2022 Ballon d'Or include Real Madrid's Toni Kroos and Manchester City's Rodri. Neymar, one of Messi's strike partners at PSG, also missed out.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo was included in the nominees, meaning he's been on every Ballon d'Or shortlist since 2004. The top three of that year were Andriy Shevchenko, Deco, and Ronaldinho.

2022 Women's Ballon d'Or nominees

England's Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, and Beth Mead are under consideration for the Women's Ballon d'Or after winning Euro 2022 on home soil this summer.

The 20-strong shortlist also includes an American trio of Catarina Macario, Alex Morgan, and Trinity Rodman.

Alexia Putellas, who won the Women's Ballon d'Or in 2021, was nominated alongside four Barcelona teammates.

Player Club County
Selma Bacha Lyon France
Aitana Bonmati Barcelona Spain
Millie Bright Chelsea England
Lucy Bronze Barcelona/Manchester City England
Kadidiatou Diani Paris Saint-Germain France
Christiane Endler Lyon Chile
Ada Hegerberg Lyon Norway
Marie-Antoinette Katoto Paris Saint-Germain France
Sam Kerr Chelsea Australia
Catarina Macario Lyon United States
Beth Mead Arsenal England
Vivianne Miedema Arsenal Netherlands
Alex Morgan San Diego Wave United States
Lena Oberdorf Wolfsburg Germany
Asisat Oshoala Barcelona Nigeria
Alexandra Popp Wolfsburg Germany
Alexia Putellas Barcelona Spain
Wendie Renard Lyon France
Trinity Rodman Washington Spirit United States
Fridolina Rolfo Barcelona Sweden

Kopa Trophy nominees

The Kopa Trophy, presented since 2018 to the best player under the age of 21, features six nominees who were also in the running for last year's award.

Spaniard Gavi will be looking to follow in the footsteps of compatriot and Barcelona teammate Pedri, who claimed the honor in 2021.

Player Club Country
Karim Adeyemi Borussia Dortmund/Red Bull Salzburg Germany
Jude Bellingham Borussia Dortmund England
Eduardo Camavinga Real Madrid France
Gavi Barcelona Spain
Ryan Gravenberch Bayern Munich/Ajax Netherlands
Nuno Mendes PSG Portugal
Jamal Musiala Bayern Munich Germany
Josko Gvardiol RB Leipzig Croatia
Bukayo Saka Arsenal England
Florian Wirtz Bayer Leverkusen Germany

Yachine Trophy nominees

The Yachine Trophy, named after iconic goalkeeper Lev Yashin, is awarded to the game's top netminder. Thibaut Courtois, the standout performer in Real Madrid's victory over Liverpool in last season's Champions League final, is viewed as the favorite to claim the hardware for the first time in his career.

Player Club Country
Yassine Bounou Sevilla Morocco
Alisson Becker Liverpool Brazil
Thibaut Courtois Real Madrid Belgium
Ederson Manchester City Brazil
Mike Maignan AC Milan France
Edouard Mendy Chelsea Senegal
Manuel Neuer Bayern Munich Germany
Jan Oblak Atletico Madrid Slovenia
Kevin Trapp Eintracht Frankfurt Germany
Hugo Lloris Tottenham Hotspur France

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