THE LIST OF THIRTY NOMINATED FOR THE BALLON D’OR FRANCE FOOTBALL 2021 IS TWO-THIRDS RENEWED COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS EDITION, IN 2019. IT INCLUDES THREE FRENCH: BENZEMA, KANTÉ AND MBAPPÉ.
France Football has announced the names of the 30 players who will fight for the most prestigious individual award in world football – the Golden Ball. The winner for 2021 will be announced at an official ceremony, which will be held on November 29 at the Chatelet Theater in Paris.
After a one-year parenthesis due to a health crisis, the Ballon d’Or is back with a brand new list of thirty, and that is little to say. In comparison with the 2019 edition, twenty-one have gone overboard. First and foremost, it is necessary to honor the nine who escaped this groundswell: Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, De Bruyne, Lewandowski, Mahrez, Mbappé, Messi, Salah and Sterling.
In this atypical odd year where the selections have taken the light, we will not be surprised to find five Italian European champions: a goalkeeper (Donnarumma), two defenders (Bonucci and Chiellini), two midfielders (Barella and Jorginho), but no attacker. An original cast which reflects the collective springs of this team where no element has risen above the others.
17th nomination for Ronaldo, 15th for Messi
The same, or almost, for the European club champion, Chelsea and his five candidates: a defender (Azpilicueta), three midfielders (Kanté, Jorginho and Mount) and a striker (Lukaku) who arrived this summer. Man City, finalist of the C1, presents an identical contingent, proof that beyond the defeat he marked the spirits by the quality of his game and the title of champion of England.
We will also note that three French (Benzema, Kanté and Mbappé) “survived” the failure of the Euro, that Real and Barça have lost their splendor, that L1 only exists through PSG (Donnarumma, Mbappé, Messi and Neymar) and that Germany has no contenders. Otherwise, Cristiano celebrates his seventeenth nomination, Messi his fifteenth and, from this point of view, nothing changes.
The nominees for the Golden Ball in 2021:
Cesar Azpilicueta (ESP/Chelsea)
Nicolo Barella (ITA/Inter Milan)
Karim Benzema (FRA/Real Madrid)
Leonardo Bonucci (ITA/Juventus Turin)
Giorgio Chiellini (ITA/Juventus Turin)
Kevin De Bruyne (BEL/Manchester City)
Ruben Dias (POR/Manchester City)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (ITA/AC Milan)
Bruno Fernandes (POR/Manchester United)
Phil Foden (ANG/Manchester City)
Erling Haaland (NOR/Borussia Dortmund)
Jorginho (ITA/Chelsea)
Harry Kane (ANG/Tottenham)
N’Golo Kanté (FRA/Chelsea)
Simon Kjaer (DAN/AC Milan)
Robert Lewandowski (POL/Bayern Munich)
Romelu Lukaku (BEL/Chelsea)
Riyad Mahrez (ALG/Manchester City)
Lautaro Martinez (ARG/Inter Milan)
Kylian Mbappé (FRA/PSG)
Lionel Messi (ARG/FC Barcelone puis PSG)
Luka Modric (CRO/Real Madrid)
Gerard Moreno (ESP/Villarreal)
Mason Mount (ANG/Chelsea)
Neymar (BRE/PSG)
Pedri (ESP/FC Barcelone)
Cristiano Ronaldo (POR/Juventus puis Manchester United)
Mohamed Salah (EGY/Liverpool)
Raheem Sterling (ANG/Manchester City)
Luis Suarez (URU/Atlético de Madrid)
