The 2024 Ballon d’Or nominations were revealed this week, with 30 of the best footballers in the world earning a nod.
While the likes of Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Rodri and Vinicius Junior all successfully made the cut, there were quite a few omissions from the shortlist that football fans were notably up in arms about.
Here are the biggest snubs from 2024’s shortlist.
- Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
For the first time since 2003, neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi have been nominated for the Ballon d’Or.
But did they deserve to be?
Having netted 35 goals in just 31 games in the Saudi Pro League during the 2023/24 season, based on pure numbers alone, one can probably make a case for Ronaldo earning a nod.
However, the pretty poor standard he’s currently playing at in the Middle East, and his woeful performances during Euro 2024, are legitimate reasons why he wasn’t nominated.
Messi, on the otherhand, simply hasn’t played enough football. He missed 25 games in all competition with injuries, meaning it’s pretty impossible to justify him receiving a nomination.
- Rodrygo
Full disclosure, the decision not to shortlist Rodrygo for the Ballon d’Or was so baffling that I re-read the list of nominees five times before writing this article.
It is that ridiculous that the Brazilian isn’t on the shortlist.
Rodrygo was one of the Madrid’s star players en route to a UEFA Champions League and La Liga-winning season, bagging 22 goal contributions along the way – seven in the Champions League alone.
I mean, what more do you have to do?
- Jamal Musiala
“We at FC Bayern are very surprised that Jamal Musiala is missing from the [Ballon d’Or] list. Jamal was one of the outstanding players at the Euros, was voted into the best XI and was one of the tournament’s top scorers.”
“FC Bayern also reached the semifinals of the Champions League thanks to Jamal’s great performances. The fact that he is now not even among the 30 best players of the past season is completely incomprehensible to us.”
Max Eberl basically said it all here.
- Mohamed Salah
Although Mohamed Salah’s form tailed off in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign, we’d argue that his form in the first half of the season should’ve been enough for him to earn a place on the shortlist.
The Egyptian superstar did bag a whopping 24 goals and 13 assists in all competitions after all.
Those are some pretty damn impressive numbers if you ask us.
- Kevin De Bruyne
Based on pure talent, not ranking Kevin De Bruyne among the 30 best footballers in the world is fairly ludicrous.
When you consider the fact that he missed 41 games at both club and international level due to injuries in 2023/24, it starts to make a bit more sense..
What we know
- 30 players have been nominated for the Ballon d’Or
- Ronaldo and Messi weren’t nominated
- Rodrygo was a surprise omission.