Men’s Ballon d’Or 2022 nominees announced: Messi and Neymar miss out

The final contenders for Ballon d’Or have been revealed

France Football have announced the nominees for the 2022 men’s Ballon d’Or, with Europe’s best player set to be crowned in October.

Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema is the most favourite to win the prize.

Lionel Messi is set to pass on this year’s award after a hard season at PSG.

The World Cup final takes place on December 18 and Premier League action will resume eight days later on Boxing Day, Monday, December 26. The final round of Premier League matches, to be played on May 28, 2023, will kick off simultaneously as is customary.

Check out the full list of nominees below.

Thibaut Courtois – Real Madrid

Rafael Leao – AC Milan

Christopher Nkunku – RB Leipzig

Mohamed Salah – Liverpool

Joshua Kimmich – Bayern Munich

Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool

Bernardo Silva – Manchester City

Luis Diaz – Liverpool

Robert Lewandowski – Barcelona

Riyad Mahrez – Manchester City

Casemiro – Real Madrid

Heung-Min Son – Tottenham

Fabinho – Liverpool

Karim Benzema – Real Madrid

Mike Maignan – AC Milan

Harry Kane – Tottenham

Darwin Nunez – Liverpool

Phil Foden – Manchester City

Sadio Mane – Bayern Munich

Sebastian Haller – Dortmund

Luka Modric – Real Madrid

Antonio Rudiger – Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United

Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City

Dusan Vlahovic – Juventus

Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool

Joao Cancelo – Manchester City

Kylian Mbappe – PSG

Erling Haaland – Manchester City