BREAKING: Ademola Lookman nominated for Ballon d’Or

Nigeria’s Super Eagles player, Ademola Lookman has been nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or award, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo conspicuously missing from the list.

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TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the 2024 Ballon d’Or nominees list was unveiled on Wednesday with Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal also making the 30-man shortlist.

Lookman, who plies his international football trade with Atalanta in Italy, is the only African player nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or.

He becomes the 9th Nigerian to be nominated for the coveted award after Finidi George in 1995, Daniel Amokachi in 1995, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha in 1995, Nwankwo Kanu in 1996 and 1999, Victor Ikpeba in 1997, Sunday Oliseh in 1998, Asisat Oshoala in 2022 and 2023, and Victor Osimhen in 2023.

TNG reports Ademola Lookman made the 30-man 2024 Ballon d’Or shortlist after scoring 20 goals and making 12 assists for club and country in the 2023/2024 season.

Lookman won the 2023/2024 Europa League with Atalanta. He scored a hat-trick in the Europa League final to help Atalanta defeat Bayer Leverkusen.

Lookman also featured for the Super Eagles in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) earlier this year, scoring three goals as Nigeria finished runners-up behind hosts Ivory Coast.

Lookman was linked with a mover to Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the 2024 summer transfer window, but ended up staying with Atalanta.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi failed to make the Ballon d’Or shortlist, the first time either of the two has been absent from the Ballon d’Or nomination list since 2003.

See full list of the nominees for the 2024 Men’s Ballon d’Or:

1. Ademola Lookman
2. Jude Bellingham
3. Erling Haaland
4. Kylian Mbappe
5. Lamine Yamal
6. Nico Williams
7. Florian Wirtz
8. Granit Xhaka
9. Emiliano Martinez
10. Lautaro Martínez
11. Martin Odegaard
12. Mats Hummels
13. Harry Kane
14. Toni Kroos
15. Hakan Calhanoglu
16. Dani Carvajal
17. Ruben Dias
18. Artem Dovbyk
19. Phil Foden
20. Alejandro Grimaldo
21. Dani Olmo
22. Cole Palmer
23. Declan Rice
24. Rodri
25. Antonio Rüdiger
26. Bukayo Saka
27. William Saliba
28. Federico Valverde
29. Vinícius Junior
30. Vitinha

TNG reports the eventual winner of the world’s most prestigious individual football player award would be announced at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France on 28 October.