© Reuters
On Friday night, the list of 30 players - candidates to win the "Ballon d'Or" title was announced. Last year's winner of the title for the 7th time in his career, Lionel Messi, did not even make it to the extended list this year. Among the 30 candidates, football fans cannot see the Argentine's teammate from PSG club, Neymar. The full list includes: Harry Kane, Heung-min Son (Tottenham), Karim Benzema, Thibaut Courtois, Luka Modrić, Casemiro, Vinicius (Real), Antonio Rudiger (Real and Chelsea), Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo (Manchester City), Erling Haaland (Borussia and Manchester City), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig), Rafael Leao, Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho (Liverpool), Darwin Nunez (Liverpool and Benfica), Dušan Vlahovič (Juventus), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Sebastian Haller (Ajax and Borussia), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona and Bayern), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern), Sadio Mane (Bayern and Liverpool), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United). Lionel Messi did not make it to this list for the first time since 2005. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo continues his streak. The Argentinian scored 6 goals and made 14 assists in the victorious Ligue 1 season last year. However, the main favorite to win the "Golden Ball" prize this year is Real forward Karim Benzema. The "Ballon d'Or" award this year will be presented for achievements before the World Cup.
