Ballon d’Or: Messi, Ronaldo and Other Major Omissions in 2024 Nominee List

• Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham were included in the nominee list for the 2024 Baloon d'Or award, as expected
• The reigning holder, Lionel Messi, is out of contention after failing to make it to the list for the October 28th ceremony
• Legit.ng looks at some top players who were omitted from the nominee list despite sensational performances last season

The race for the 2024 Ballon d'Or award became clearer on September 4 after the organizers released the nominee list for the various categories.

The perceived frontrunners Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham were included after a stellar season with Real Madrid. Manchester City's Rodri has also gained traction in recent months.

Aitana Bonmati leads the women's list. The Barcelona Women's midfielder is looking to become the second woman to win back-to-back awards.

Xabi Alonso is the favourite for the newly created Men's Coach of the Year Award after his record-breaking season with Bayer Leverkusen. Former Chelsea Women's manager, now USWNT coach Emma Hayes leads the fray for the Women's Coach of the Year Award.

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Ballon d'Or 2024 major omissions

However, as the dust settled after the nominee list had been announced, fans started questioning why some names had been left out. Legit.ng looks at the major snubs for this year's award.

4. Rodrygo - Real Madrid/Brazil

Real Madrid has the most representatives of any side in the world in this year's award, but surprisingly, there was no place for Rodrygo.

Much has been said about his inferior role at Real Madrid but the Brazilian has been consistent for Carlo Ancelotti. According to Transfermarkt, he finished last season with 17 goals and 9 assists. Of the 17 goals, he had three critical contributions in the Champions League latter stages.

His reaction on Instagram after being excluded was telling.

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3. Mohamed Salah - Liverpool/Egypt

That Mohamed Salah has established himself as one of the finest players the Premier League has ever seen is no longer in question. The quick Egyptian often finds a way to be on the goal contributions leaderboard, no matter how poor of a season he is having.

He might no longer be competing for the Golden Boot award due to the presence of one Erling Haaland, but his 18 goals and 10 assists return in Jurgen Klopp's final season in the Premier League was insane.

The 32-year-old was hard done by the injury that curtailed his participation at AFCON 2023.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo - Al-Nassr/Portugal

Despite every obstacle he has overcome in his career, it was always going to be difficult for Ronaldo to make any significant headway in the Ballon d'Or while playing outside of Europe.

For the second year running, the five-time winner has missed out on the nominees list. Admittedly, it was a difficult year all around for Ronaldo trophy-wise. Al-Nassr were pipped to the Saudi Pro League title by Al-Hilal, while his Portuguese side was eliminated in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.

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However, his fans believe that his 57 goals and 16 assists deserved a place on the nominee list.

1. Lionel Messi - Inter Miami/Argentina

You know the script - wherever Ronaldo is, Lionel Messi is closely behind. The Argentine is the reigning holder, but he won't have a chance to defend his title next month. And, like Ronaldo, you sort of understand why.

With no participation in the Champions League, it is difficult to put yourself on the same pedestal as other nominees. Messi has had one of the most injury-riddled campaigns of his career but still played a part in Argentina's successful Copa America title defence.

According to the Messi vs Ronaldo App, the former Barcelona captain had 31 goals and 18 assists in 41 appearances, but like his nemesis above, that wasn't enough to convince the organisers.

Other mentions

Virgil Van Dijk, Antoine Griezmann, Jeremy Frimpong, Jamal Musiala and Viktor Gyokeres are all players who a section of fans thought deserved a place in the final 30.

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Messi, Ronaldo make unusual Ballon d'Or history

Legit.ng has also reported that this is the first time that neither Messi nor Ronaldo has been nominated for the Ballon d' Or award

It is surely a significant change of guard with a new face set to win the award for only the third time in the last 15 years.

The two, who have a combined 13 awards between them, have dominated the award since 2008, with only Luka Modric (2018) and Karim Benzema (2022) breaking the duopoly.

Source: TUKO.co.ke