Football is back with its most prestigious award as France Football published its list of nominees for the men’s Ballon d’Or, women’s Ballon d’Or, Yashin Trophy and Kopa Trophy for the 2023 on Wednesday.
Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, who led Argentina to a World Cup title in 2022 and Erling Haaland, treble-winner with Manchester City last season were two of the highlights in the nominations for the men’s best players. It is because these two are favourites to fight it out for the award. 2022 winner Karim Benzema has also been included in the list.
Women’s World Cup winner Aitana Bonmati of Spain, Golden Boot winner Hinata Miyazawa of Japan and Colombian revelation Linda Caicedo are among the Ballon d’Or female nominees.
For the Yashin award (best goalkeeper), World Cup-winner Emiliano Martinez of Argentina has made the cut, along with treble-winner Ederson of Manchester City, and La Liga Golden Glove Marc Andre Ter Stegen among others.
For the Kopa award (best U-21 player), 2022 winner Gavi and 2021 winner Pedri, both from Barcelona, have again been included. They have been joined by Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid, Jamal Musiala of Bayern Munich and Rasmus Hojlund of Manchester United among others.
Ballon d’Or nominee list – Male
Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Kim Min-Jae (Napoli and Bayern Munich)
Victor Osimhen (Napoli)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich)
Lionel Messi (PSG and Inter Miami)
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)
Erling Haaland (Man City)
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)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
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)
Ballon d’Or nominee list – Female
Khadija Shaw (Man City)
Mapi Leon (Barcelona)
Mary Earps (Man United)
Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona)
Wendie Renard (Lyon)
Katie Mccabe (Arsenal)
Jill Roord (Wolfsburg and Man City)
Yui Hasegawa (Man City)
Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg)
Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona)
Debinha (Kansas City)
Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
Guro Reiten (Chelsea)
Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg)
Patricia Guijarro (Barcelona)
Daphne Van Domselaar (Twente and Aston Villa)
Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg)
Hinata Miyazawa (MyNavi Sendai and Man United)
Millie Bright(Chelsea)
Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona)
Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns)
Hayley Raso (Man City and Real Madrid)
Amanda Ilestedt (PSG and Arsenal)
Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich)
Olga Ramona (Real Madrid)
Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona)
Rachel Daly (Aston Villa)
Alba Redondo (Levante)
Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid)
Kadidiatou Diani (Lyon)
Yashin Trophy nominees
Marc Andre Ter Stegen – Barcelona
Thibaut Courtois – Real Madrid
Mike Maignan – AC Milan
Yassine Bounou – Sevilla FC and Al-Hilal
Aaron Ramsdale- Arsenal
Emiliano Martinez – Aston Villa
Andre Onana – Manchester United and Inter Milan
Ederson – Manchester City
Brice Samba- RC Lens
Dominik Livakovic – Dinamo Zagreb and Fenerbahce
Kopa trophy nominees
Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid
Gavi – FC Barcelona
Jamal Musiala – Bayern Munich
Eduardo Camavinga – Real Madrid
Pedri – FC Barcelona
Rasmus Hojlund- Manchester United
Alejandro Balde – Barcelona
Pedri – Barcelona’
Eduardo Camavinga – Real Madrid
Xavi Simons – RB Leipzig
Antonio Silva- Benfica
Elye Wahi – RC Lens
