Messi, Haaland, Saka, Osimhen Make 2023 Ballon d’Or Nominees

Argentine football star, Lionel Messi, Napoli and Nigeria’s forward, Victor Osimhen and Manchester City, Erling Haaland, all make the 2023 Ballon d’Or nominee list.

OsunDailyNG reports that the Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented to players by French news magazine France Football since 1956.

Just in between 2010 and 2015, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year and known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or following an agreement with FIFA.

On Wednesday, September 6, France Football published its list of nominees for this year’s men’s Ballon d’Or, women’s Ballon d’Or, Yashin Trophy and Kopa Trophy.

Having won the award seven times, Messi, who currently plays as a forward for and captains both Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team, was also listed in the year’s nominees.

On the other hand, 23-year-old Norwegian star, Haaland, won a treble-winner with Manchester City last season.

Not left out in the award list is the 2022 winner, Karim Benzema.

Below is the full list of 2023 Ballon d’Or nominees List Male:

• Lionel Messi [PSG and Inter Miami]
• Erling Haaland [Manchester City]
• Victor Osimhen [Napoli]
• Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
• Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
• Kim Min-Jae (Napoli and Bayern Munich)
• Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
• Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich)
• Rodri (Man City)
• Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
• Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
• Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
• Julian Alvarez (Man City)
• Yassine Bounou (Sevilla and Al Hilal)
• Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)
• Ilkay Gundogan (Man City and Barcelona)
• Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
• Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)
• Ruben Dias (Man City)
• Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)
• Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
• Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt and PSG)
• Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid)
• Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
• Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
• Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and Al-Ittihad)
• Andre Onana (Inter Milan and Man United)
• Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig and Man City)