Ballon d'Or 2021: 30-man shortlist announced

The Ballon d’Or which is organized by France football was cancelled last year because of the Coronavirus pandemic but the 30-man shortlist for the 2021 award has been released.

The prestigious award is handed over to the world’s best footballer annually and the winner will be announced on the 29th of November in Paris.

The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Jorginho, Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe have all been named on the shortlist for the award this year.

Messi will be eyeing his 7th Ballon d’Or win this year after helping his country win the Copa America.

Meanwhile, Jorginho helped Italy win the European Championships and he also won the Champions League with Chelsea.

Lewandowski guided Bayern Munich to a league title last season by scoring 41 goals in the competition and he was a firm favourite to win the award last year before it was cancelled.

The Polish international striker will be hoping to win it this time around.

The 2020 Ballon d'Or was canceled. Lewandowski was one of the favorites.

His 2021 so far:

50 goals
8 assists
3 trophies pic.twitter.com/oTdjzT4jKy
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 8, 2021

Meanwhile, the likes of Luis Suarez are on the list as well after guiding Atletico Madrid to a memorable title win last season.

Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, Ruben Dias, Kevin de Bruyne, N’Golo Kante, Romelu Lukaku, Bruno Fernandes and Raheem Sterling are on the list as well from the Premier League.

Barcelona youngster Pedri is also a surprise inclusion on the list. He has been exceptional for club and country over the past year.

Pedri made his Barcelona debut on Sept. 27, 2020.

In 2021, he’s started 31 games for Barcelona. He played all but one minute for Spain in Euro 2020 and started every game for his country in the Olympics.

He’s now one of the nominees for the Ballon d’Or all at the age of 18 ???? pic.twitter.com/lFsW3yCuYV
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 8, 2021