Daily Times

PARIS: Six-time winner Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time victor, were among the 30 names revealed on Friday for the Ballon d’Or award. The serial favourites face competition that includes Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Karim Benzema, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante who are also considered as leading runners in the list unveiled by France Football magazine. The prestigious award was not handed out in 2020 due to the pandemic. There are also 20 womenin the running for their own prize to be announced in Paris on November 29. French champions PSG can boast Messi, a winner in the Copa America this summer, and teammates Mbappe and Neymar who last season took the ambitious club to the Champions League last-four. Italian midfielder Jorginho gets the nod after helping Chelsea to the Champions League title as well as playing a major role as Italy won the delayed Euro 2000.

Chelsea teammate Kante, man of the match in the Champions League semi-final and final, is also on the list. Ronaldo, who was third in the 2019 Ballon d’Or vote behind Messi and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, sees former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema also nominated. Also in the running are Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, the top scorer in Europe with 41 goals, as well as Dortmund’s Erling Braut Haaland, the Champions League’s best scorer with 10 goals. England, the Euro 2020 finalists, are represented by Harry Kane, Mason Mount, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling. Among the women, 2019 winner Megan Rapinoe, whose United States team were knocked out of the Olympics in the quarter-finals, was missing from the nominations. Christine Sinclair, of Olympic gold medal winning Canada, is in the running. Champions League winners Barcelona are represented by Alexia Putellas, already voted UEFA’s best player, and Jennifer Hermoso, joint top-scorer in the Champions League.