The battle for supremacy can be put to rest or at least for a while. The nominees for the 2024 Ballon d’Or was released on Wednesday, September 4, and for the first time since 2003, football superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were not featured on the list.
The list compromising of 30 nominees had the likes of Bukayo Saka, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Erling Haaland among a host of others. Some football fanatics have called the absence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the end of an era, making way for the next generation of football stars. The football icons dominated the award from 2008 to 2018, with no other player bagging the award. Luka Modric broke the cycle in 2019.
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37 year-old Lionel Messi has eight (8) Ballon d’Or awards. Messi secured his eighth Ballon d’Or last year and also won with Argentina at the Copa America in July.
Ronaldo on the other hand secured his 5th Ballon d’Or title in 2017. The 39 year-old missed out on a Ballon d’Or nomination last year following his move to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr.
