Liverpool, with seven players, is the most represented team on the list of the 30 candidates for the Golden Ball unveiled on Monday by France Football magazine, which does not feature any Spanish for the first time for 26 years. The absence of Red players contrasts with the seven candidates it presented in 2008, when the National Team won the Eurocup of Austria and Switzerland.

The European champion has seven names among those who will opt for the prize, whose winner will be revealed at a ceremony in Paris on December 2 ; It is followed by Manchester City with five names and Barcelona, ​​with four. The Englishman Trent Alexander-Arnold , the Brazilians Alisson and Roberto Firmino , the Senegalese Sadio Mané , the Egyptian Mohamed Salah and the Dutch Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum represent Jürgen Klopp as a whole. The City of Guardiola, champion of England, has cast five names: the Argentine Sergio Agüero , the Portuguese Bernardo Silva , the Belgian Kevin De Bruyne , the Algerian Riyad Marhez and the Englishman Raheem Sterling .

The Dutchman Frankie de Jong , the Frenchman Antoine Griezmann , the German Marc-André Ter Stegen and the Argentinean Lionel Messi are the four candidates of Barcelona. The latter, chosen as the best player by FIFA, opts for his sixth Golden Ball, as does the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo , representative on the Juventus list alongside the Dutchman Matthijs de Ligt .

He has two representatives Real Madrid, the French Karim Benzema and the Belgian Eden Hazard , while the winner of the last edition, the Croatian Luka Modric, does not appear on the list. Another prominent absence is the Neymar .

They also have two representatives Tottenham, finalist of the last edition of the Champions League (Frenchman Hugo Lloris and South Korean Son Heung-min ); the Ajax of Amsterdam (the Serbian Dusan Tadic and the Dutchman Donny van de Beek ); and Paris Saint-Germain (Frenchman Kylian Mbappé and Brazilian Marquinhos ).

Atlético de Madrid is represented by Portuguese Joao Felix on a list completed by the Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal), Senegalese Kalidou Koulibaly (Naples) and Polish Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich). The Netherlands, with five players eligible for the award, is the most represented country, ahead of France, with 4, and Portugal and Brazil, which have 3 on the list of candidates.

The best sub'21 and the best goalkeeper

In the list of 10 applicants for the Kopa trophy, which distinguishes the best sub'21 player, is Real Madrid's Brazilian Vinicius Jr , Joao Felix, Villarreal's Nigerian Samuel Chukwueze , Valencia's South Korean Lee Lee Kang-in and Ukrainian's Valladolid Andrei Lounine .

The list is completed by Borussia Jadon Sancho English , Leverkusen German Kai Havertz , Juve Matthijs de Ligt Dutchman, Arsenal Frenchman Mattéo Guendouzi and Everton Italian Moise Kean .

As for the Yashin trophy, the best goalkeeper, which will be delivered for the first time this season, among the ten candidates is Chelsea Spaniard Kepa Arrizabalaga . Next to him, Brazilians Alisson (Liverpool) and Ederson (City), Slovenes Jan Oblak (Atlético de Madrid) and Samir Handanovic (Inter Milan), Germans Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) and Ter Stegen (Barcelona), Tottenham Frenchman Hugo Lloris, Ajax Cameroon André Onana and Juve Wojciech Szczesny from Poland.

The 30 candidates for the Golden Ball

  • Liverpool (7): Trent Alexander-Arnold (ING), Roberto Firmino (BRA), Sadio Mané (SEN), Mohamed Salah (EGY), Virgil van Dijk (HOL), Georginio Wijnaldum (HOL) and Alisson (BRA).
  • Manchester City (5): Sergio Agüero (ARG), Bernardo Silva (POR), Kevin de Bruyne (BEL), Riyad Mahrez (ARG) and Raheem Sterling (ING).
  • Barcelona (4): Frenkie de Jong (HOL), Antoine Griezmann (FRA), Lionel Messi (ARG) and Marc-André ter Stegen (ALE).
  • Tottenham (2): Hugo Lloris (FRA) and Son Heung-Min (CDS).
  • Paris Saint-Germain (2): Marquinhos (BRA) and Kylian Mbappé (FRA).
  • Ajax (2): Dusan Tadic (SER) and Donny van de Beek (HOL).
  • Real Madrid (2): Karim Benzema (FRA) and Eden Hazard (BEL).
  • Juventus (2): Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) and Matthijs de Ligt (HOL).
  • Arsenal (1): Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (GAB).
  • Naples (1): Kalidou Koulibaly (SEN).
  • Atlético de Madrid (1): Joao Félix (POR)
  • Bayern Munich (1): Robert Lewandowski (POL).

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • sports
  • football
  • Antoine Griezmann
  • Cristiano Ronaldo
  • Eden Hazard
  • Karim Benzema
  • Luka modric
  • Jürgen Klopp
  • FIFA

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