With the 2022 Ballon d'Or ceremony set to be held this coming Monday, here is what to expect from the event. While Karim Benzema is tipped to beat Kylian Mbappe and Sadio Mane to the award, Lionel Messi was not named among the nominees.
Why Messi Was Snubbed From Ballon D'Or Nominees List
When will it be held?
The ceremony will be hosted at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on Monday, 17 October, with proceedings to start at 19:30 SAT. Messi was named the winner of the award in 2021, but has not been included in the 30-man nominees list this time around.
What are the criteria changes?
With the Golden Ball having previously been handed to be best player in a calendar year, the organisers of the award, France Football, announced earlier this year that selection will now be based on single European seasons (August to May).
Individual performances will now be taken into account rather than what a player achieves collectively with his team, a change that was made just months after Messi claimed the 2021 prize following his Copa America triumph with Argentina.
Benzema likely to be crowned winner
The Real Madrid No. 9 is widely considered to be the favourite to receive the majority vote from the 100 journalists from around the world who will have a say following his sublime and consistent displays throughout the previous campaign.
Benzema ended the 2021/22 season with an impressive 59 goal contributions in 46 appearances, helping Los Blancos win both the LaLiga and the UEFA Champions League titles.
It was the Frenchman's big-match performances in last season's UCL campaign that, at times, single-handedly dragged the Spanish giants to the final, in which Real beat Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool 1-0 in Istanbul.
Consecutive hat-tricks against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in the knockout rounds saw Benzema inspire Carlo Ancelotti's men to remarkable comebacks, while he also scored three times against Manchester City over the two semi-final fixtures.
Here are all the nominees:
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
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 Hotspur)
Fabinho (Liverpool)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
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)
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments
Click here to register: Sign In
