France Football announces its 30-player shortlist for the men’s Ballon d’Or on Wednesday.
Seven-time winner Lionel Messi is favored to take home another trophy after finishing his career in World Cup glory with Argentina in Qatar 2022. Messi last won in 2021 and is the all-time leader, with his seven Ballon d’Ors ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, who won five times.
Erling Haaland is Messi’s main rival, scoring 52 goals in all competitions in his first season at Manchester City, while Pep Guardiola’s side trebled that.
While making it to the final 30 is no small feat, there are only a small handful of players who have a real case to pick up the big prize.
Lionel Messi has returned to the Ballon d’Or nominees as four Argentine players have been nominated.
Messi is back in the list of names nominated for the Ballon d’Or after being left out last year. The record seven-time winner is one of the favorites to win the trophy.
Argentina have four names in total with Lautaro Martínez, Julián Álvarez, and Emiliano Martínez also being included.
Here is the full list of 30 finalists.
| Player | Current Club | National Team |
| Julian Alvarez | Man City | Argentina |
| Nicolo Barella | Inter Milan | Italy |
| Jude Bellingham | Real Madrid | England |
| Karim Benzema | Al-Ittihad | France |
| Yassine Bounou | Al-Hilal | Morocco |
| Kevin De Bruyne | Man City | Belgium |
| Ruben Dias | Man City | Portugal |
| Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid | France |
| Ilkay Gündoğan | Barcelona | Germany |
| Josko Gvardiol | Man City | Croatia |
| Erling Haaland | Man City | Norway |
| Harry Kane | Bayern Munich | England |
| Khvicha Kvaratskhelia | Napoli | Georgia |
| Robert Lewandowski | Barcelona | Poland |
| Emiliano Martinez | Aston Villa | Argentina |
| Lautaro Martinez | Inter Milan | Argentina |
| Kylian Mbappé | PSG | France |
| Lionel Messi | Inter Miami | Argentina |
| Kim Min-Jae | Bayern Munich | South Korea |
| Luka Modric | Real Madrid | Croatia |
| Randal Kolo Muani | PSG | France |
| Jamal Musiala | Bayern Munich | Germany |
| Martin Ødegaard | Arsenal | Norway |
| Andre Onana | Man United | Cameroon |
| Victor Osimhen | Napoli | Nigeria |
| Rodri | Man City | Spain |
| Bukayo Saka | Arsenal | England |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | Egypt |
| Bernardo Silva | Man City | Portugal |
| Vinicius Jr. | Real Madrid | Brazil |