Ballon d'Or nominees: No Messi, Ronaldo for the first time since 2003; Bellingham, Rodri make list

For the first time since 2003, neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi have been included in the nominees list for the men's Ballon d'Or award, which was announced on Wednesday, with England's Jude Bellingham and Spain's Rodri among the 30 players named.

Portugal's Ronaldo, who has won the award five times, also failed to receive a nomination last year, while Messi, who won for a record eighth time in 2023 and has been nominated 16 times, misses out despite Argentina's Copa America win this year. With Luka Modric and Karim Benzema also missing out, this year will see a new player crowned with what is considered to be the pinnacle of individual awards in football.

Two GOATs of the game are not around this time, so here are the favourites to grab the award this year:

Bellingham and Vinicius Junior's vital performances in LaLiga and UCL victory run for Real Madrid make them the favourites to win the accolade, but Rodri's contribution to Spain's Euro win as well as Man City's record-breaking 4th title in a row makes him a strong contender too.

Besides them, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane are the closest outside contenders.

Spain, the winners of Euro 2024, have six players nominated including 17-year-old Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, along with Nico Williams, Alejandro Grimaldo, Dani Olmo, Rodri and Dani Carvajal who also won the Champions League with Real Madrid.

Real Madrid have a total of seven players nominated, including Kylian Mbappe who recently signed jumped ship from Paris St Germain, besides Bellingham and Vinicius Jr.

England, runners-up to Spain at Euro 2024 have five other nominees apart from Bellingham: Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden.

The list also includes LaLiga top scorer Artem Dobvyk; players from the invincible Bayer Leverkeusen team - Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka; Europa League final hattrick hero Ademola Lookman and Argentina's cult hero goalkeeper Emiliano Marinez, and the new Real Madrid Galactico Kylian Mbappe among others.

Interestingly, Real Madrid's Rodrygo, who had a wonderful season, missed out from the illustrious list. The Brazilian even reacted to it with an Instagram story, presumably expressing his take on being snubbed:

Rodrygo reacts to not being included in the Ballon D'Or nomination list.

In the women's Ballon d'Or Feminin, Champions League winners Barcelona have six nominees in total, including last year's winner Aitana Bonmati and two-time winner Alexia Putellas.

Here is the full list of Ballon D'Or nominees:

1. Jude Bellingham (England and Real Madrid)

2. Ruben Dias (Portugal and Manchester City)

3. Phil Foden (England and Manchester City)

4. Federico Valverde (Uruguay and Real Madrid)

5. Emiliano Martinez (Argentina and Aston Villa)

6. Cole Palmer (England and Chelsea)

7. Erling Haaland (Norway and Manchester City)

8. Ademola Lookman (Nigeria and Atalanta)

9. Nico Williams (Spain and Athletic Bilbao)

10. Granit Xhaka (Switzerland and Bayer Leverkusen)

11. Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine and Roma)

12. Toni Kroos (former Germany and Real Madrid)

13. Vinicius Jr (Brazil and Real Madrid)

14. Dani Olmo (Spain and Barcelona)

15. Florian Wirtz (Germany and Bayer Leverkusen)

16. Martin Odegaard (Norway and Arsenal)

17. Mats Hummels (Germany, free agent)

18. Rodri (Spain and Manchester City)

19. Harry Kane (England and Bayern Munich)

20. Declan Rice (England and Arsenal)

21. Vitinha (Portugal and Paris St-Germain)

22. Dani Carvajal (Spain and Real Madrid)

23. Lamine Yamal (Spain and Barcelona)

24. Bukayo Saka (England and Arsenal)

25. Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey and Inter Milan)

26. William Saliba (France and Arsenal)

27. Kylian Mbappe (France and Real Madrid)

28. Lautaro Martinez (Argentina and Inter Milan)

29. Antonio Rudiger (Germany and Real Madrid)

30. Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain and Bayer Leverkusen)

The 2024 Ballon d'Or Awards ceremony, to crown the world's best player, will take place on October 28 in Paris.

(With Reuters Inputs)