The race to win the most uncertain Ballon d’Or in the last fifteen years has reached its final stage. This Friday the magazine France Football, in charge of delivering the prestigious award, announced the list of the 30 finalists, among which there is no clear favorite. Among those chosen there are three Spaniards: Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Gerard Moreno (Villarreal) and Pedri (Barcelona), the latter also candidate for the Kopa Prize, which is given to the best player under 21 years of age and of whom he is the main contender.
The flight of talents and the downturn that LaLiga has given compared to other competitions in recent years has made it lose nominees in this edition. In addition to the aforementioned Gerard and Pedri there are three other LaLiga footballers among the 30 finalists: Luis Suárez (Atlético Madrid) and Modric and Benzema (Real Madrid)The French striker being the only one who has any real chance of winning the award for best player of the year 2021.
The Premier is once again the competition that includes the most players among the best of the year (14). The two finalists of the last Champions League, Chelsea and City, are the teams that contribute the most players. The European champions include Jorginho, Kanté, Azpilicueta, Mount and Lukaku, although the latter played the first half of the year at Inter, while Ruben Dias, Foden, De Bruyne, Mahrez and Sterling are part of Guardiola’s team. Kane (Tottenham), Salah (Liverpool) and Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano (Manchester United) complete the list of Premier players.
The team in which there are the most favorites in the fight to win the Ballon d’Or is PSG. Both Messi, the last winner of the trophy, as well as Neymar, Mbappé and Donnarumma, MVP of the last European Championship, are firm candidates to be elected best footballer of the year. Of course, the Italian goalkeeper is also the great candidate to win the Yashin award, which is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the year.
How could it be otherwise, Italy is the team that contributes the most players to the list of 30 finalists. The Italian team was proclaimed champion of the European Championship in July and that is the main reason that in addition to the aforementioned Jorginho and Donarumma, the duo of central Chiellini and Bonucci and the Inter Barella midfielder are also among the nominees.. His Argentine teammate Lautaro Martínez, Haaland (Dortmund), Lewandowski (Bayern), also among the big favorites, and the Danish central defender of Milan Kjaer complete the definitive list. The latter has been the great surprise among the nominees while Gündogan (Manchester City) and Chiesa (Juventus) were the most striking absences.
The winner will be announced on November 29, in an act that will take place at the Chatelet Theater in Paris.
This is the list of nominees
Azpilicueta (Spain / Chelsea)
Barella (Italy / Inter)
Benzema (France / Real Madrid)
Bonucci (Italy / Juventus)
De Bruyne (Belgium / Manchester City)
Chiellini (Italy / Juventus)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal / Manchester United)
Ruben Days (Portugal / Manchester City)
Donnarumma (Italy / PSG)
Bruno fernandes (Portugal / Manchester United)
Foden (England / Manchester City)
Haaland (Norway / Borussia Dortmund)
Jorginho (Italy / Chelsea)
Kane (England / Tottenham)
Kanté (France / Chelsea)
Kjaer (Denmark / Milan)
Lewandowski (Poland / Bayern)
Lukaku (Belgium / Manchester City)
Mahrez (Algeria / Manchester City)
Lautaro Martinez (Argentina / Inter)
Kylian Mbappé (France / PSG)
Messi (Argentina / PSG)
Modric (Croatia / Real Madrid)
Gerard Moreno (Spain / Villarreal)
Mason Mount (England / Chelsea)
Neymar (Brazil / PSG)
Pedri (Barcelona, Spain)
Salah (Egypt / Liverpool)
Sterling (England / Manchester City)
Luis Suarez (Uruguay / Athletic)
France Football also released the ten nominated goalkeepers, including Thibaut Courtois and Oblak, but not Ter Stegen. These are the candidates:
Donnarumma (Italy / PSG)
Ederson (Brazil / Manchester City)
Schmeichel (Denmark / Leicester)
Edouard mendy (France / Chelsea)
Thibaut Courtis (Belgium / Real Madrid)
Keylor Navas (Costa Rica / PSG)
Emiliano Martinez (Argentina / Aston Villa)
Manuel Neuer (Germany / Bayern)
Jan Oblak (Slovenia / Athletic)
Handanovic (Slovenia / Inter)