"France Football" magazine announced on Monday evening a list of 30 footballers, one of whom will receive the most important individual award - the "Golden Ball". The winner will be announced on December 2nd in Paris, at the Chatelet Theatre. During the ceremony, the best female footballer, the best goalkeeper of the year, and the young (U-21) footballer will also be awarded. Three main competitors have made it to the list of candidates - Virgil van Dijk, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo. The European champion "Liverpool" club has the most candidates - among the contenders are the already mentioned V. van Dijk, as well as Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, and Roberto Firmino. Last year's winner of the "Golden Ball" Luka Modrić did not make it even to the top 30 this time. It is also worth mentioning that players such as Neymar, Paul Pogba, Harry Kane, and Hakim Ziyech are not among the candidates. The best footballer in the world will be chosen by 180 independent journalists from around the world. All candidates: Sadio Mane ("Liverpool", Senegal) Sergio Aguero ("Manchester City", Argentina) Frenkie de Jong ("Barcelona", Netherlands) Hugo Lloris ("Tottenham", France) Dusan Tadic ("Ajax", Serbia) Kylian Mbappe (PSG, France) Trent Alexander-Arnold ("Liverpool", England) Donny van de Beek ("Ajax", Netherlands) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ("Arsenal", Gabon) Marc-Andre ter Stegen ("Barcelona", Germany) Cristiano Ronaldo ("Juventus", Portugal) Alisson ("Liverpool", Brazil) Matthijs de Ligt ("Juventus", Netherlands) Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France) Georginio Wijnaldum ("Liverpool", Netherlands) Virgil van Dijk ("Liverpool", Netherlands) Bernardo Silva ("Man City", Portugal) Son Heung-min ("Tottenham", South Korea) Robert Lewandowski ("Bayern", Poland) Roberto Firmino ("Liverpool", Brazil) Lionel Messi ("Barcelona", Argentina) Riyad Mahrez ("Man City", Algeria) Kevin de Bruyne ("Man City", Belgium) Kalidou Koulibaly ("Napoli", Senegal) Antoine Griezmann ("Barcelona", France) Mohamed Salah ("Liverpool", Egypt) Eden Hazard (Real Madrid, Belgium) Marquinhos (PSG, Brazil) Raheem Sterling ("Man City", England) Joao Felix ("Atletico Madrid", Portugal) The award for the best young player is expected to be won by players who have not yet crossed the age limit of 21: Matteo Guendouzi ("Arsenal"), Jadon Sancho ("Borussia"), Joao Felix ("Atletico Madrid"), Moise Kean ("Everton"), Samuel Chukwueze ("Villarreal"), Kang-in Lee ("Valencia"), Matthijs de Ligt ("Juventus"), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Kai Havertz ("Bayer"), and Andre Lunin ("Real Valladolid"). The best female footballer in the world is expected to be: Vivianne Miedema, Sari van Veenendaal, Lieke Martens, Sam Kerr, Nilla Fischer, Amandine Henry, Lucy Bronze, Dzsenifer Marozsan, Sarah Bouhaddi, Wendie Renard, Ada Hegerberg, Alex Morgan, Marta, Ellen White, Tobin Heath, Megan Rapinoe, Kosovare Asllani, Sofia Jakobsson, Pernille Harder, and Rose Lavelle. This year, a new category was added to the awards - the "Yachine" trophy. It will be awarded to the best goalkeeper of the year. Among the ten candidates are these names: Alisson ("Liverpool", Brazil) Manuel Neuer ("Bayern", Germany) Ederson ("Man City", Brazil) Andre Onana ("Ajax", Cameroon) Wojciech Szczesny ("Juventus", Poland) Jan Oblak ("Atletico", Slovenia) Kepa ("Chelsea", Spain) Samir Handanovic ("Inter", Slovenia) Hugo Lloris ("Tottenham", France) Marc-Andre ter Stegen ("Barcelona", Germany)
