Ballon d’Or 2024 Nominees Announced – First time No Messi or Ronaldo Since 2003
Ballon d’Or 2024 Nominees Accounced: The New Generation Takes Over
This is the highly awaited list of nominees for the 2024 Ballon d’Or, a historical moment within the realms of football. For the first time in more than twenty years, the list of 30 male nominees does not feature two of the biggest icons in the game – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Their absence symbolizes a shift in the landscape of global football as a new generation of stars steps into the limelight.
Ballon d’Or 2024 Nominees: Top Contenders
The winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or is incredibly open, with a kaleidoscopic amount of talent from around the footballing world. The top candidates include Jude Bellingham, who has bedazzled since his transfer to Real Madrid. Still only 21, he has now emerged as one of the most dominant midfield forces on the continent, inspiring Real Madrid to numerous titles and playing a central role in England’s runners-up spot at Euro 2024.
Another favorite can be Erlang Haaland, the Norwegian striker of Manchester City, who had a season that was a thing of record. He was part of the historic season for City, which won the treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. As the goal-getting machine just clicked into gear during the season, people mark him as a favorite for football’s biggest individual award.
First up on the list of young stars is Kylian Mbappé, who, as has become common for him, has made headlines in the transfer market this time around with his move from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid. Electric on the pitch, always, Mbappé stays put as one of the most electric footballers on the planet with speed, technical ability, and goal-scoring talent. Given his string of individual accolades and collective successes, his name on the 2024 list should come as no surprise.
Dominance at Real Madrid
The number of representatives that the club has managed to amass in the nominations sums up the global stature that Real Madrid has built. A record seven players are from Spanish giants, including veterans like Toni Kroos and Dani Carvajal, alongside some youthful stars in the mould of Vinicius Junior. This amount of representation underlines the depth of talent at the Santiago Bernabéu, with the club consistently occupying a pedestal on both the domestic and international fronts.
Key Figures for Manchester City
Manchester City also features prominently in this year’s nominations, with Rodri, Phil Foden, and Ruben Dias all earning well-deserved recognition. Anchored by Rodri’s midfield genius, Dias’ marshaling at the back, and creativity provided by Foden in attack, City’s treble-winning campaign was built on a foundation of tactical brilliance and individual brilliance.
Rodri has been considered one of the best midfielders in the world, with a few performances where he controlled the pace of the game with pinpoint passes and positioning. Still, all of that is also because of the important role he will be playing to help City win their first-ever Champions League title. For all these reasons, he might lift the Ballon d’Or.
Surprising Inclusions and Emerging Stars
Further, emerging talents and surprises are given prominence in the Ballon d’Or 2024 nominees list. Included is the nomination of 17-year-old Spanish prodigy Lamine Yamal from Barcelona, marking him out as one of the most promising talents of his generation. His meteoric rise at club and country offers a glimpse of where the next wave of footballing superstars will come from.
Completing the list is Nigerian international Ademola Lookman, on the books of Atalanta, following an outstanding season in Serie A, underlining the global nature of the nominations.
The headline transfer to Arsenal of rising star Declan Rice also sees him featuring in the nominations. It is about leadership and consistent displays that have seen Rice become an important figure for both club and country, especially in England’s Euro 2024 run.
The End of an Era
Perhaps the most symbolic absence in this year’s Ballon d’Or race, though, is that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi, a record eight-time winner of the award, enjoyed one of the highlights of his career in 2022 as he led Argentina to World Cup glory, but his transfer to Major League Soccer in the United States appears to have taken him outside of the focus of European football for the time being.
Ronaldo still plays in Saudi Arabia, but the fact that he was absent from the nominations for a second straight year confirms one thing: there is a guard change in world football. For more than 15 years, the Ballon d’Or had Messi-Ronaldo, but finally, a new era is afoot.
Ballon d’Or 2024 Nominees: Full Men’s Nomination List
Below is the full list of the male players nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or:
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- Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/England)
- Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Inter Milan/Turkey)
- Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid/Spain)
- Rúben Dias (Manchester City/Portugal)
- Artem Dovbyk (Girona/Ukraine)
- Phil Foden (Manchester City/England)
- Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen/Spain)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City/Norway)
- Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund/Germany)
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich/England)
- Toni Kroos (Real Madrid/Germany)
- Ademola Lookman (Atalanta/Nigeria)
- Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa/Argentina)
- Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan/Argentina)
- Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid/France)
- Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal/Norway)
- Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig/Spain)
- Cole Palmer (Chelsea/England)
- Declan Rice (Arsenal/England)
- Rodri (Manchester City/Spain)
- Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid/Germany)
- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal/England)
- William Saliba (Arsenal/France)
- Federico Valverde (Real Madrid/Uruguay)
- Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid/Brazil)
- Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain/Portugal)
- Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao/Spain)
- Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen/Germany)
- Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen/Switzerland)
- Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)
Looking Ahead to the Ceremony
For the first time in many years, Paris’ Théâtre du Châtelet will again host the 2024 Ballon d’Or on 28 October 2024, where all the best footballers in the world will once again converge to witness who will be crowned the best male footballer for this 2023-2024 season. But while it is an open competition, interest in what it has to offer has been presented keenly by fans and punters alike as to whether young stars like Bellingham, Haaland, or even Mbappé may claim the prestigious trophy.
One thing is for sure: football has just entered into a whole new phase, and the Ballon d’Or 2024 nominees list was full of talented players who will define the future of the game.
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