Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi, was left off the 30-man list of nominees for the 2022 Ballon d’Or award.
Messi, who won the title last year, had been an ever-present amongst the nominations since 2006 and a regular feature in the top three since 2007 with the exception of 2018.
However, his rival Cristiano Ronaldo was enlisted alongside a host of other players who played in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
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The nominees for this year’s Ballon d’Or are listed below:
Heung-min Son (CDS, Tottenham)
Casemiro (BRE, Real Madrid)
Phil Foden (ENG, Manchester City)
Harry Kane (ENG, Tottenham)
Karim Benzema (FRA, Real Madrid)
Fabinho (BRE, Liverpool)
Riyad Mahrez (ALG, Manchester City)
Joshua Kimmich (GER, Bayern Munich)
Christopher Nkunku (FRA, RB Leipzig)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (ANG, Liverpool)
Robert Lewandowski (POL, Bayern Munich then FC Barcelona)
Bernardo Silva (POR, Manchester City)
Vinicius Junior (BRE, Real Madrid)
Luis Diaz (COL, FC Porto then Liverpool)
Rafael Leao (POR, AC Milan)
Mohamed Salah (EGY, Liverpool)
Thibaut Courtois (BEL, Real Madrid)