Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski are among the 30 nominees for the 2021 Ballon d’Or as they will contest for the award for the best player of the year. The award ceremony was not organised last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ballon d’Or Trophy
Messi will look forward to winning his seventh award while Ronaldo who last won the award in 2017 will hope he can win the award for the sixth time while Lewandowski will be the first Polish to win the award if he is chosen.
France Football confirmed the nominee’s list on its website on Friday, October 8th, 2021 and the winner of the prestigious award will be announced at a ceremony that takes place on
Real Madrid’s midfielder, Luka Modric is the only player to have broken the decade-long duopoly between Messi and Ronaldo when he won the 2018 edition.
Other players on the list are Cesar Azplicueta, Nicolo Barella, Karim Benzema, Leonardo Bonucci, Kevin De Bruyne, Georgio Chiellini, Reuben Dias, Gianlugi Donnarumna, Bruno Fernandes.
Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Jorginho, Harry Kane, N’golo Kante, Simon Kjaer, Romelu Lukaku, Riyad Mahrez, Lautaro Martinez, Gerrad Munro, Mason Mount, Neymar, Pedri, Mohamed Salah, Raheem Sterling, Luis Suarez.
The award has been independent of FIFA since 2016, it takes account of the player’s performance for the calendar year rather than the previous season.
