Top 5 Favorites For The Golden Ball

French soccer magazine, France Football, announced the 30 candidates for the 2024 Ballon d’Or on Wednesday, September 4. The shortlist, which includes the best players of the 2023-24 season — between August 1, 2023, and July 31, 2024 —, does not feature the two most successful players of the 21st century, eight-time winner Lionel Messi and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo. The two have failed to make the cut for the first time since 2003.

Here is the shortlist in full:

Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/England)
Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter/Turkiye)
Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid/Spain)
Ruben Dias (Manchester City/Spain)
Artem Dovbyk (Girona/Ukraine)
Phil Foden (Manchester City/England)
Alex 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 Martinez (Aston Villa/Argentina)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter/Argentina)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG/France)
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal/Norway)
Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig/Spain)
Cole Palmer (Chelsea/England)
Declan Rice (Arsenal/England)
Rodri (Manchester City/Spain)
Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid/Germany)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal/England)
William Saliba (Arsenal/France)
Federico Valverde (Real Madrid/Uruguay)
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid/Brazil)
Vitinha (PSG/Portugal)
Nico Williams (Athletic Club/Spain)
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen/Germany)
Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen/Switzerland)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)

With the Ronaldo-Messi era officially over and no former Ballon d’Or winner squeezing into the 30-man list, it is now time for someone new to be crowned the Best in the World. Below, we will take out the top five players who have a good chance of standing on the top step in Paris on October 28.

#5  Lamine Yamal – Barcelona/Spain

Lamine Yamal Was Sensational For Barcelona And Spain In 2023-24

Lamine Yamal is almost guaranteed to win the Kopa Trophy 2024…

Source link : https://sportslens.com/news/ballon-dor-2024-top-5-favorites/

Author : Sushan Chakraborty

Publish date : 2024-09-05 06:40:38

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