On the evening of August 7, the prestigious magazine France Football announced the list of 30 candidates for the 2025 Ballon d'Or award. The absence of two contemporary football legends, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, is one of the notable details.
However, the result did not bring any surprises. The last time either of the two superstars won the Ballon d'Or was in 2023, when Messi was named for the noble individual title for the 8th time. Meanwhile, the last time Ronaldo was honored was nearly a decade ago, in 2017.
Both Ronaldo and Messi are on the other side of their careers, choosing to retire outside of Europe. At the age of 40, CR7 is still tirelessly searching for glory with Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. On the other hand, Leo is spending his second year enjoying the atmosphere of American football and is still playing the role of the soul in the Inter Miami shirt despite turning 38.
No longer playing at the top level, it is understandable that Ronaldo and Messi will not be nominated for the second consecutive year. The opportunity will be given to new stars who have performed well in the past year such as Lamine Yamal, Raphinha (Barcelona), Ousmane Dembele (PSG) or Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid).
The list of 30 candidates also includes many famous names such as Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Vitinha, Joao Neves (PSG), Erling Haaland (Man City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)... But the above faces are not outstanding enough in terms of both individual performance and collective achievements.
This year's nomination list also saw a small surprise. That is the presence of Scott McTominay. Thanks to his "transformation" performance in Naples, which contributed significantly to Napoli winning Serie A, the former Man United midfielder was honored to be selected.
Even on social networks, many people joked that if McTominay received just 1 vote, he would surpass Old Trafford legend Paul Scholes. Because, in the 5 nominations, Scholes did not receive any votes.
PSG is the team that contributes the most players to the nomination list, including: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Joao Neves, Doue, Kvaratskhelia and Dembele. Among them, thanks to his brilliant form, Dembele is considered the strongest candidate.
In the post-Ronaldo - Messi era, the Ballon d'Or race is becoming increasingly unpredictable because no one is truly shining brighter than the rest. Rodri, the winner of last year's award, will certainly not be able to defend the title because he will miss almost the entire 2024/25 season due to injury.
In addition to announcing 30 candidates for the 2025 Ballon d'Or, France Football magazine also nominated other notable categories such as the 2025 Women's Ballon d'Or, Kopa Trophy (best male/female player under 21 years old), Yashin Trophy (best male/female goalkeeper), Gerd Muller Trophy (best male/female player for club and national team), Johan Cruyff Trophy (best male/female coach), best male/female team of the year, Socrates Award (humanitarian award).
The 2025 Golden Ball Gala is scheduled to take place on September 22 at the Chatelet Theater, Paris (France).
Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/danh-sach-de-cu-qua-bong-vang-2025-ronaldo-va-messi-tiep-tuc-vang-mat-cuu-cau-thu-man-united-bat-ngo-xuat-hien-159586.html
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