Ballon d’Or 2023 Nominees
The most contentious list in world football is the Ballon d’Or list of top soccer players for the calendar year. The Ballon d’Or 2023 nominees list was released to much fanfare as well as condemnation due to some players that didn’t make the cut. The list of 15 candidates for the best player in men’s football is headlined by FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo, and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk. For women’s football, USA national team’s Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan lead the list of top 20 women for their showing in the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament earlier this year.
Ballon d’Or Winners List
The 2023 Ballon d'Or is up for grabs, and there are plenty of highly qualified candidates in the running. From stars like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Neymar to rising names such as Erling Håland, Kylian Mbappé and João Félix, there are a variety of contenders from Europe, South America and beyond all vying for the title of world's best player. It will be an exciting race to see who ultimately wins this prestigious award.
The Ballon D’Or Rankings
The shortlist of the players will be reduced until the final three players that will be handed the trophy in the 66th edition of the award ceremony in October. The Ballon d’Or voting procedure is conducted by 100 soccer journalists from around the globe. Each journalist nominates five players and there’s a scoring criterion for players that are nominated.
| Nomination | Points |
| 1st nomination | 6 points |
| 2nd nomination | 4 points |
| 3rd nomination | 3 points |
| 4th nomination | 2 points |
| 5th nomination | 1 point |
The 2022 World Cup, whose finals will be held in Qatar fell right in the middle of the 2023 award. As is often the case, the composition of the shortlist is heavily influenced by the World Cup tournament.
Although there is still half a football season to be played and all the various club trophies are yet to be decided, a glance at 15 of the early favourites for the next Ballon d'Or is provided based on the first half of the 2022/23 season and the upcoming World Cup.
- Sofyan Amrabat
- Achraf Hakimi
- Mohamed Salah
- Luka Modric
- Antoine Griezmann
- Vinicius Junior
- Robert Lewandowski
- Emiliano Martinez
- Enzo Fernandez
- Kevin De Bruyne
- Neymar
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
- Erling Haaland
- Lionel Messi
- Kylian Mbappe