The shortlists for the Ballon d’Or award has been announced, with the list of players up for the trophy which crowns the best male and female player on the planet incredibly intriguing.
There is no standout candidate for either award, with plenty of emerging global superstars all at a very similar level while the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were not included for the male award.
Below are the full list of the Ballon d’Or nominees, as we reveal our ranking for how we think voting should go.
Ballon d’Or nominees, ranking the favorites for male award
The frontrunner for this award is Ousmane Dembele given his goalscoring and general brilliance during PSG’s majestic campaign which saw them crowned champions of Europe. Most of PSG’s squad are in this shortlist, with Hakimi, Ruiz, Neves and Kvaratskhelia also contenders. The likes of Mohamed Salah, Lautaro Martinez, Cole Palmer, Viktor Gyokeres and Raphinha had incredible seasons as leaders of their team and Raphinha is a strong contender, along with Salah, to win this award alongside Dembele. Then you have youngsters Pedri, Lamine Yamal, Florian Wirtz and Desire Doue who might not win the Ballon d’Or this year, but are surely future winners.
Jude Bellingham
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Ousmane Dembele
Desire Doue
Denzel Dumfries
Serhou Guirassy
Viktor Gyokeres
Erling Haaland
Achraf Hakimi
Harry Kane
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Robert Lewandowski
Alexis Mac Allister
Lautaro Martinez
Kylian Mbappe
Scott McTominay
Nuno Mendes
Joao Neves
Michael Olise
Cole Palmer
Pedri
Raphinha
Declan Rice
Fabian Ruiz
Mohamed Salah
Virgil van Dijk
Vinicius Junior
Vitinha
Florian Wirtz
Lamine Yamal
Ballon d’Or nominees, ranking the favorites for female award
There are some legendary names among the nominees, while some of England’s stars from their run to winning EURO 2025 are surely up there as the favorites. Hannah Hampton, Lucy Bronze and Leah Williamson will be high on the list, and Spanish trio Aitana Bonmati, Alexia Putellas and Mariona Caldentey will all be there too. Barbra Banda will be among the favorites given her brilliant goalscoring achievements and Marta is Marta as the veteran led Brazil to yet another Copa America title.
Sandy Baltimore
Barbra Banda
Aitana Bonmati
Lucy Bronze
Klara Buhl
Mariona Caldentey
Sofia Cantore
Steph Catley
Temwa Chawinga
Melchie Dumornay
Emily Fox
Cristiana Girelli
Esther Gonzalez
Caroline Graham Hansen
Patri Guijarro
Amanda Gutierres
Hannah Hampton
Pernille Harder
Lindsey Heaps
Chloe Kelly
Frida Leonhardsen Maanum
Marta
Clara Mateo
Ewa Pajor
Claudia Pina
Alexia Putellas
Alessia Russo
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd
Caroline Weir
Leah Williamson
Read the full article here