The 2023 list of Ballon d’Or nominees has been released and it features four players from Africa.
The four Africans to features are Manchester United’s Cameroonian keeper Andre Onana, Liverpool’s Egypt striker Mohamed Salah, Moroccan Yassine Bounou of Sevilla and Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen who plays for Napoli.
Listed alongside 30 other superstars, including Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Ilkay Gundogan and Erling Haaland, the African stars are not expected to win the award.
In all there are 12 Premier League players who have been nominated, with seven of those being players from Manchester City’s treble winning squad.
Bookmakers have installed Argentina’s World Cup winning skipper Lionel Messi as the overwhelming favourite to win. Messi has already won seven Ballons d’Or.
The full list of Ballon d’Or nominees is as follows:
Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City, Croatia)
Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Andre Onana (Manchester United, Cameroon)
Karim Benzema (Al-Ittihad, France)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal, England)
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium)
Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, England)
Randal Kolo Muani (Paris St-Germain, France)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, Portugal)
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli, Georgia)
Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan, Italy)
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa, Argentina)
Ruben Dias (Manchester City, Portugal)
Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway)
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal, Norway)
Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona, Germany)
Yassine Bounou (Sevilla, Morocco)
Julian Alvarez (Manchester City, Argentina)
Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid, Brazil)
Rodri (Manchester City, Spain)
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid, France)
Lionel Messi (Inter Miami, Argentina)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan, Argentina)
Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona, Poland)
Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich, South Korea)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain, France)
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich, England)
Victor Osimhen (Napoli, Nigeria)
