Ballon d'Or 2022: Full list of nominees, key favourites for best player awards & more

The  30-man list for the prestigious Ballon d’Or 2022 award was revealed on Friday with Lionel Messi not making the list for the very first time since 2005. The will Ballon d’Or 2022 award be awarded for the performances of footballers over a full season from 2022. Previously, the award was given for the player's performance in a calendar year. We take a look at Ballon d'Or nominees and details about Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony.

Football news:  A look at Ballon d'Or nominees 

Real Madrid 

Karim Benzema
Antonio Rudiger
Thibaut Courtois
Vinicius Junior 
Luka Modric
Casemiro

Liverpool 

Mohammad Salah 
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Luis Diaz
Fabinho
Darwin Nunez
Virgil van Dijk

Manchester City

Kevin De Bruyne
Phil Foden
Joao Cancelo
Riyad Mahrez
Bernardo Silva 
Erling Haaland

Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo 

Tottenham Hotspur

Harry Kane 
Son Heung-min 

Bayern Munich

Sadio Mané 
Joshua Kimmich

Barcelona

Robert Lewandowski

Paris Saint Germain

Kylian Mbappé

Borussia Dortmund

Sébastien Haller 

AC Milan

Mike Maignan

Rafael Leao 

RB Leipzig

Christopher Nkunku 

Juventus

Dusan Vlahovic 

When will Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony take place?

The Ballon d'Or 2022 ceremony will take place on October 17, 2022, at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. The time of the event is yet to be announced. Besides the Ballon d'Or 2022 award, the ceremony will also witness other trophies Kopa Trophy (for the best performing player under the age of 21) and the Yashin Trophy (for the best goalkeeper) being also presented. The Kopa Trophy was won by Pedri while Gianluigi Donnarumma bagged the Yashin Trophy in 2021.

Who will be the favourites to win Ballon d'Or 2022?

Real Madrid Karim Benzema and Bayern Munich's Sadio Mane are currently the favourites to win the Ballon d'Or 2022 trophy. Benzema is strongly tipped to win the Ballon d'Or 2022 trophy having helped Real Madrid lift both the La Liga and Champions League. He also had a huge role to play in European Champions' win over PSG and Manchester City during the competition.

Sadio Mane on the other hand could make history if he wins the award. The former Liverpool player could become the first African player to win the Ballon d'Or since George Weah in 1995. Last season Mane scored 33 goals and helped his country win the Africa Cup of Nations while tasting FA Cup & Carabao Cup success with Liverpool.