The list of 30 final candidates for Ballon d'Or 2024 was accompanied by many surprises. Atalanta's Ademola Lookman, Inter's Lautaro Martinez and Hakan Calhanoglu have been nominated, while Milan stars Theo Hernandez and Rafael Liao have been left out.
The winner of this award will be announced at a ceremony to be held on October 28 in Paris. In addition to the Ballon d'Or, other awards such as the Yashin Award for the best goalkeeper, the award for the best young player, the best coach and the best female player will also be awarded.
In this year's list, for the first time since 2003, the names of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not seen. Victor Osiman, the former Napoli striker who recently joined Galatasaray, has also been left out, along with Teo Hernandez and Rafael Liao.
The only representative of Italy on this list is Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is competing for the Yashin Award. However, Inter have hopes of success with the presence of Lautaro Martinez, who holds the title of Mr. Goal of the Copa America and Serie A. Also, Hakan Calhanoglu from Inter is included in the list.
The biggest surprise is the presence of Ademola Lookman, who played a key role in Atalanta's championship with a hat-trick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen.
Vinicius Junior from Real Madrid is known as the main option to win the Ballon d'Or due to Real's championships in the European Champions League and La Liga.
Read more: The full list of candidates for the world's best football player of the year / No news about Messi and Ronaldo!
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