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England trio up for Ballon d'Or, four Lionesses nominated for women's prize

sportsmole.co.uk, 6 September 2023, 20:28
Three England men's players have received nominations for the 2023 Ballon d'Or award, while four England Women's players are in contention to win the Ballon d'Or Feminin.

On the back of a quarter-final appearance at the 2022 World Cup and sustained domestic success, all of Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham are up for the prize.

Despite failing to propel Tottenham Hotspur into European football for the 2023-24 season, Kane came up with another 30 Premier League goals, only behind record-breaker and fellow nominee Erling Haaland.

Meanwhile, Saka netted three times in Qatar and was one of two players to hit double figures in goals and assists in the 2022-23 Premier League season, alongside Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.

Another star of the 2022 World Cup, Bellingham registered 14 goals and seven assists in 42 matches for Borussia Dortmund, who agonisingly missed out on the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich before the 20-year-old's move to Real Madrid.

Last year's winner Karim Benzema is also among the 2023 nominees following his move to Al-Ittihad, one of three players not based in Europe to be shortlisted alongside Al-Hilal goalkeeper Bono and Inter Miami's Lionel Messi.

Alongside winning the Golden Ball during Argentina's run to 2022 World Cup glory, Messi - who is seen as the early favourite - amassed 16 goals and 16 assists in 32 Ligue 1 games during his final season with Paris Saint-Germain, winning a second successive Ligue 1 title.

Messi's compatriots Julian Alvarez, Emiliano Martinez and Lautaro Martinez are up for the prize too, but for the first time since 2003, Al-Nassr and Portugal attacker Cristiano Ronaldo is not in contention.

On the back of their treble-winning campaign, Manchester City are unsurprisingly the best-represented club with seven nominees in Haaland, Alvarez, Ruben Dias, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Rodri and new signing Josko Gvardiol.

Meanwhile, four key members of the Lionesses team have earned nominations following their run to the World Cup final, including Manchester United's Mary Earps, the winner of last year's The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper prize.

Aston Villa's Rachel Daly, Chelsea's Millie Bright and Bayern Munich's Georgia Stanway join Earps on the women's shortlist, as are six players from the Spain team who beat England 1-0 in the final.

However, on the back of an injury-disrupted year, current holder and two-time winner Alexia Putellas of Barcelona is not included on the 30-woman shortlist.

While Earps is up for the Ballon d'Or Feminin, her male counterpart Aaron Ramsdale has been shortlisted for the Yashin Trophy, awarded to the best goalkeeper in the 2022-23 season.

Ederson, Andre Onana and Aston Villa's Martinez make up the rest of the Premier League contenders for the Yashin Trophy, while both Bellingham and Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund have earned nominations for the Kopa Trophy.

Current holder Gavi is one of three Barcelona players on the 10-man shortlist alongside 2021 winner Pedri and Alejandro Balde, while Eduardo Camavinga and Jamal Musiala - who placed second and third last year - are also included.

2023 BALLON D'OR NOMINEES IN FULL:

Josko Gvardiol, Jamal Musiala, Andre Onana, Karim Benzema, Mohamed Salah, Bukayo Saka, Kevin de Bruyne, Jude Bellingham, Randal Kolo Muani, Bernardo Silva, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nicolo Barella, Emiliano Martinez, Ruben Dias, Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, Ilkay Gundogan, Yassine Bounou, Julian Alvarez, Vinicius Jr, Rodri, Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Robert Lewandowski, Kim Min-jae, Luka Modric, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, Victor Osimhen

2023 BALLON D'OR FEMININ NOMINEES IN FULL:

Aitana Bonmati, Millie Bright, Linda Caicedo, Olga Carmona, Rachel Daly, Debinha, Kadidiatou Diani, Mary Earps, Patricia Guijarro, Yui Hasegawa, Amanda Ilestedt, Sam Kerr, Mapi Leon, Katie McCabe, Hinata Miyazawa, Lena Oberdorf, Asisat Oshoala, Ewa Pajor, Salma Paralluelo, Alexandra Popp, Hayley Raso, Alba Redondo, Guro Reiten, Wendie Renard, Fridolina Rolfo, Jill Roord, Khadija Shaw, Sophia Smith, Georgia Stanway, Daphne van Domselaar

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