The 30 nominees for the 2023 Ballon d'Or were announced on Wednesday, and it has sparked confusion yet again! How did Marcus Rashford not make it? Here are Soccer Laduma senior writer Kurt Buckerfield's thoughts.
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Although now customary, it continues to surprise me that France Football, the organisers of the beautiful game's most prestigious individual award, names 30 candidates when there are realistically just two or three players who can win the prize every year. In 2023, only Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland should be considered contenders following their exploits last season. While Messi helped inspire Argentina to 2022 FIFA World Cup glory in Qatar, Haaland scored 52 goals as Manchester City won the treble. However, if the list is going to be this long, how did Rashford get overlooked?
Here are the 30 nominees:
Andre Onana (Inter Milan/Manchester United, Cameroon), Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig/Manchester City, Croatia), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, Portugal), Ruben Dias (Manchester City, Portugal), Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City, Argentina), Rodri (Manchester City, Spain), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City/Barcelona, Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona, Poland), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal, England), Martin Odegaard (Arsenal, Norway), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur/Bayern Munich, England), Kim Min-Jae (Napoli/Bayern Munich, Japan), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich, Germany), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid, England), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid, Brazil), Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia), Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan, Italy), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan, Argentina), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli, Georgia), Victor Osimhen (Napoli, Nigeria), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt/Paris Saint-Germain, France), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/Al Ittihad, France), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa, Argentina), Yassine Bounou (Sevilla/Al Hilal, Morocco), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid, France), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain/Inter Miami, Argentina)
Rashford's exclusion
No Manchester United player from last season features among the 30 nominees, with Andre Onana included based on his performances for Inter Milan on their run to the UEFA Champions League final. Rashford, though, should feel aggrieved! While he wouldn't have had an actual chance of winning the Ballon d'Or, it does feel surprising that the likes of Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka have been nominated ahead of him when they finished the previous campaign without any trophies. Rashford scored 30 goals and contributed further with 11 assists across all competitions at club level, while he also scored three times for England at the World Cup.
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The 25-year-old found the best form of his career following his return from the tournament in Qatar as he helped inspire the Red Devils to a third-place finish in the Premier League, the FA Cup final and a Carabao Cup final victory over Newcastle United, during which he found the back of the net! This isn't to discredit Odegaard and Saka, who contributed to 23 and 26 goals last season for Arsenal, respectively, but rather to use them as examples when highlighting the comparison in productivity. Paris Saint-Germain's new signing Randal Kolo Muani could also be pointed to as a player who perhaps shouldn't be listed ahead of Rashford, as well as new Manchester City centre-back Josko Gvardiol.
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