These are the 30 finalists for the Ballon d'Or (with surprising blaugrana absences)
Ousmane Dembélé will defend an award for which Lamine Yamal will compete
BarcelonaThe Ballon d'Or will be presented at the end of October and will award the best player of the past season. The award is defended by Ousmane Dembélé, winner of the last two editions, but he will face considerable competition, especially following the victory of the Spanish national team in the last World Cup. This triumph makes two Blaugranas favorites, Lamine Yamal Nasraoui and Rodrigo Hernández. The third 'Culer' in the shortlist, Pau Cubarsí, is the main favorite to take home the award for the best young player of the season.
This is the list of 30 finalists, ordered alphabetically, which the organization has just provided: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Pau Cubarsí (Barça), Marc Cucurella (Real Madrid), Ousmane Dembélé (PSG), Luis Díaz (Bayern Munich), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Achraf Hakimi (PSG), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG), Lamine Yamal (Barça), Sadio Mané (Al-Nassr), Marquinhos (PSG), Lautaro Martínez (Inter), Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), João Neves (PSG), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Willian Pacho (PSG), Julián Quiñones (Al-Qadisiyah), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Rodri (Barça), Fabián Ruiz (PSG), William Saliba (Arsenal), Ferran Torres (PSG), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), Vinícius Jr (Real Madrid) and Vitinha (PSG).
The team that contributes the most players to the final ranking is PSG, with a total of ten candidates, although it is true that Ferran has just arrived at the Parc des Princes. The next club that adds the most footballers to the list is Real Madrid, with four aspirants, although Cucurella is a new signing this season. Bayern also contributes four. Regarding Barça, three players, Lamine Yamal, Cubarsí and Rodri, the latter due to the merits achieved at Manchester City and with the Spanish national team. Arsenal also adds three, current Premier League champion and runner-up in Europe. The absence of Pedri and Raphinha, who fall off the list of finalists, draws attention, and the presence, on the other hand, of two players who currently play in the Saudi league: the Senegalese Mané and the Mexican Quiñones.
The Ballon d'Or award ceremony will be on the evening of October 26th at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.