After being postponed last year, the Ballon d'Or, which the specialized magazine "France Football" wished, returns to the scene this year, with its distribution ceremony to be held on the 29th of next month.
The prize, which will be voted on by 180 journalists, will announce the list of the 30 nominated players next Friday.
After the legendary performance of Egyptian star Mohamed Salah (Liverpool's top scorer this season), fans ask whether this performance will bring the "Egyptian King" closer to raising the highest individual award in football history to be the first Arab player to receive this honor.
What many do not know is that this award will be given for the 2022-2021 season, which ended with Argentina, led by star Lionel Messi, winning the “Copa America” and Italy, led by Jorginho, winning the European Nations Cup. on the result of the vote.
Specialized sports media websites published the list of players nominated for the award that Messi won in 2019, making it his sixth in his career, surpassing Ronaldo (5 golden balls).
The list shows Salah in a very late position, while Messi, Polish Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich striker) and Jorginho compete for first place:
26- Brazilian Thiago Silva (Chelsea)
26- French Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
26- Jadon Sancho (Manchester United)
24- Phil Foden (Manchester City)
24- Italian Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
21- French Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
21- Uruguayan Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid)
21- Italian Lorenzo Insigne (Naples)
19- Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma (Saint-Germain)
19- Portugal's Ruben Diaz (Manchester City)
15- Egyptian Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
15- Norwegian Erling Haaland (Dortmund)
15- Italian Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
15- Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
11- Belgium's Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)
11- England's Mason Mount (Chelsea)
11- England's Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
11- Italian Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
9- Frenchman Kylian Mbappe (Saint-Germain)
9- Brazilian Neymar (Saint-Germain)
8- Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
6- Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
6- Harry Kane (Tottenham)
4- Frenchman N'Golo Kante (Chelsea)
3- Italian Jorginho (Chelsea)
2- Polish Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
1- Argentine Messi (Saint-Germain)