Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman has secured a spot as the only player of the African descent to be nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
The list of nominees was released on Wednesday ahead of the ceremony in Paris on October 28.
Interestingly, Nigeria forward, Ademola Lookman was the only African player nominated.
Real Madrid duo Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham also made the list.
However, this year marked a notable departure as neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi received a nomination.
The last time both Messi and Ronaldo were simultaneously absent from the Ballon d’Or nominations was in 2003, when the award went to Czech player Pavel Nedved.
READ ALSO: Messi wins Ballon d’Or for the eighth time
Below are the players who have been shortlisted for football’s ultimate individual honour:
Antonio Rudiger – Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe – Real Madrid
Lautaro Martinez – Inter
Ademola Lookman – Atalanta
Alejandro Grimaldo – Bayer Leverkusen
Dani Carvajal – Real Madrid
William Saliba – Arsenal
Lamine Yamal – Barcelona
Bukayo Saka – Arsenal
Hakan Calhanoglu – Inter
Rodri – Man City
Declan Rice- Arsenal
Harry Kane – Bayern Munich
Cole Palmer – Chelsea
Vitinha – PSG
Vinicius Jr – Real Madrid
Martin Odegaard – Arsenal
Dani Olmo – Barcelona
Florian Wirtz – Bayer Leverkusen
Mats Hummels – Roma
Erling Haaland – Man City
Nicolas Williams – Athletic Bilbao
Granit Xhaka – Bayer Leverkusen
Artem Dovbik – Roma
Toni Kroos – Real Madrid
Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid
Phil Foden – Man City
Ruben Dias – Man City
Federico Valverde – Real Madrid
Emiliano Martinez – Aston VIlla
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