“France Football” he shared after multiple back and forths to the nominees for the “Ballon d’Or 2024”, the most prestigious individual award a footballer can win. The ceremony will take place on 28 October at the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris. The list of 30 players includes several surprises. The most notable thing is that it is the first time since 2003 that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not part of it.
The 30 candidates to win the Ballon d’Or are: Dibu Martinez, Lautaro Martinez, Federico Valverde, Ruben Dias, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Ademola Lookman, Antonio Rudiger, Alejandro Grimaldo, Erling Haaland, Nico Williams, Grant Xhaka, Artem Dovbik, Toni Kroos, Vinicius Junior, Dani Olmo, Florian Wirtz, Martin Ödegaard, Mats Hummels, Rodrigues, Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Vitinha, Cole Palmer, William Saliba, Hakan Çalhanoglu, Bukayo Saka, Lamine Yamal and Dani Carvajal.
As you can see there are two Argentines, Dibu and Toro. The native of Mar del Plata had an excellent season with the Aston Villaqualifying no more and no less than for the next edition of the Champions League. While Lautaro was the top scorer of the Serie A and the Copa America 2024where both were consecrated with the Argentina National Team.
After the last victory against Chile, where Toro did not score goals although he had a good performance, he briefly referred to his nomination: “Because of the season I had, I deserve to be where I am. I have worked hard and suffered a lot in the previous years. This is the second time in a row that I have been in this ceremony. I think I am in the running for it.”.
Now the Argentine National Team will face Colombia on Tuesday 10th starting at 17.30 hrs. Ahead of the match, journalist Gastón Edul shared the following information: “The Argentine National Team will be training in a while. Nico González had an ultrasound and nothing came out. It’s a blow to the heel. They’re going to test it today. Alexis Mac Allister has a problem in the adductor and he’s going to train separately to see if he can make it to Tuesday. Scaloni will speak tomorrow.”
The other categories
In addition to the Ballon d’Or, France Football will also award several other prizes at the ceremony in Paris. Lake Martinez He will be competing for the Yashin Award for “Best Male Archer”, which he won in the last edition. Although this year he has a chance, he is not the top favorite.
Besides Lionel Scaloni will also try to defend his crown for “Best Male Coach”. He will compete with Carlo Ancelotti, Luis de la Fuente, Gian Piero Gasperini, Pep Guardiola and Xabi Alonso. While Alejandro Garnacho will be looking to win the Kopa Trophy for the “Best Under-21 Male Footballer”.