Ballon d'Or ranking: Who will be crowned as top men's player?
L'Equipe have announced the nominees for the men's Ballon d'Or as the top player on the planet will be one of the 30 included in the final shortlist.
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The French publication has been dishing out the award for the top individual honor since 1956 and after a brief link-up with FIFA, world soccer's governing body have started their own "Best" award to rival the Ballon d'Or in recent years.
With all of the usual suspects around, the only major omission is Cristiano Ronaldo who is not on the shortlist for the first time since 2003. Lionel Messi, 36, has won a record seven titles, ahead of Ronaldo in second place who has five.
Below we rank the top 30 based on who should win the coveted Ballon d'Or in the men's game.
Ranking the men’s Ballon d’Or nominees
30. Randal Kolo Muani - Paris Saint-Germain/France
29. Josko Gvardiol - Manchester City/Croatia
28. Lautaro Martinez - Inter Milan/Argentina
27. Andre Onana - Manchester United/Cameroon
26. Nicolo Barella - Inter Milan/Italy
25. Kim Min-jae - Napoli/South Korea
24. Antoine Griezmann - Atletico Madrid/France
23. Emiliano Martinez - Aston Villa/Argentina
22. Jamal Musiala - Bayern Munich/Germany
21. Ruben Dias - Manchester City/Portugal
20. Yassine Bounou - Al Hilal/Morocco
19. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia - Napoli/Georgia
18. Luka Modric - Real Madrid/Croatia
17. Jude Bellingham - Real Madrid/England
16. Julian Alvarez - Manchester City/Argentina
15. Martin Odegaard - Arsenal/Norway
14. Karim Benzema - Al Ittihad
13. Bukayo Saka - Arsenal/England
12. Robert Lewandowski - Barcelona/Poland
11. Bernardo Silva - Manchester City/Portugal
10. Ilkay Gundogan - Barcelona/Germany
9. Rodri - Manchester City/Spain
8. Mohamed Salah - Liverpool/Egypt
7. Victor Osimhen - Napoli/Nigeria
6. Harry Kane - Bayern Munich/England
5. Vinicius Junior - Real Madrid/Brazil
4. Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City/Belgium
3. Kylian Mbappe - Paris Saint-Germain/France
2. Erling Haaland - Manchester City/Norway
1. Lionel Messi - Inter Miami/Argentina
