Mane, Salah, Mahrez: African trio make Ballon d’Or 30-man short list

The final contenders for the most prestigious individual accolade in the game 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 at an official presentation ceremony in October.

Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema is the hot favourite for the prize after firing the Blancos to a La Liga and Champions League double last season, but there are plenty of other familiar names also in the running.

Lionel Messi landed a record-extending seventh Golden Ball in 2021. However, the Argentine endured a difficult debut season at Paris Saint-Germain and he looks set to pass the gong on to a new name in two months’ time.

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

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Erling Haaland – Manchester City