Soccer

Ballon d'Or 2022: Full List of Nominees for Men's, Women's Category

Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. did not make the cut

Ballon d'Or 2022
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Soon two of football’s best players will hoist one of the sport’s most prized trophies: the Ballon d’Or. 

Awarded by France Football, the Ballon d’Or honors the players that had the most successful campaign in the most recent season before the upcoming calendar year gets underway.

Lionel Messi won the award in 2019 and 2021 (2020 was canceled due to COVID-19), but the Paris Saint-Germain star did not make the 30-man cut this year.

Here are the 30 men and 20 women who were nominated for the 2022 Ballon d’Or:

Who are the 2022 Ballon d’Or nominees?

Without Messi, and other big names like Neymar Jr. in the fold, these are the 30 men who have a shot at winning the award:

Karim Benzema, Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United

Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City

Kylian Mbappé, Paris Saint-Germain

Erling Haaland, Manchester City (played with Borussia Dortmund last season)

Robert Lewandowski, FC Barcelona (played with Bayern Munich last season)

Here are five things to know about Robert Lewandowski, forward for La Liga club Barcelona and captain of the Poland national team.

Mohamed Salah, Liverpool

Sadio Mané, Bayern Munich (played for Liverpool last season)

Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool

Luka Modrić, Real Madrid

Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid

Casemiro, Real Madrid

Joshua Kimmich, Bayern Munich

Harry Kane, Tottenham

Vinicius Jr., Real Madrid 

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool

João Cancelo, Manchester City

Phil Foden, Manchester City

Riyad Mahrez, Manchester City

Antonio Rüdiger, Real Madrid (played for Chelsea last season)

Fabinho, Liverpool

Luis Díaz, Liverpool

Mike Maignan, AC Milan

Sébastien Haller, Borussia Dortmund (played for AFC Ajax last season)

Rafael Leão, AC Milan

Darwin Núñez, Liverpool (played for S.L. Benfica last season)

Christopher Nkunku, RB Leipzig

Bernardo Silva, Manchester City

Son Heung-min, Tottenham

Dušan Vlahović, Juventus 

Who are the 2022 Ballon d’Or Féminin nominees?

FC Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas won the third-ever Ballon d’Or Féminin award last year, and she’s on the 20-woman shortlist this year. Ada Hegerberg, winner of the first ever Féminin award in 2018, also made the cut. Here’s the full list:

Alexia Putellas, FC Barcelona

Ada Hegerberg, Lyon

Selma Bacha, Lyon

Beth Mead, Arsenal

Alex Morgan, San Diego Wave (played for Orlando Pride last season)

Lena Oberdorf, VfL Wolfsburg

Alexandra Popp, VfL Wolfsburg

Asisat Oshoala, FC Barcelona

Wendie Renard, Lyon

Trinity Rodman, Washington Spirit

Lucy Bronze, FC Barcelona (played for Manchester City last season)

Millie Bright, Chelsea

Aitana Bonmatí, FC Barcelona

Kadidiatou Diani, Paris Saint-Germain

Fridolina Rolfö, FC Barcelona

Vivianne Miedema, Arsenal

Sam Kerr, Chelsea

Catarina Macario, Lyon

Christiane Endler, Lyon

Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Paris Saint-Germain 

Who has won the most Ballon d’Or awards?

Messi holds the top spot with seven wins. Ronaldo has the most nominations with 18, and he’s won it five times. 

Who has won the most Ballon d’Or Féminin awards?

The Féminin category began in 2018 and has had a new winner every year, not counting the cancellation in 2020. Here are the previous winners:

2018: Ada Hegerberg

2019: Megan Rapinoe

2021: Alexia Putellas

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