A 30-man list of top footballers with a chance of winning the 2021 Ballon d’Or award has been unveiled on Friday.
The list was unveiled in a series of social media posts by organizers of the prestigious award, France Football on Friday.
Naija News reports that the list is made up of one goalkeeper, five defenders, nine midfielders, and 15 forwards.
However, many observers have said the eventual winner will likely emerge from the trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Robert Lewandowski.
Already, Messi has won the award six times while his eternal rival, Ronaldo has won the award five times and so will be looking at scooping it this time around to go level on numbers with the Argentine forward.
However, the award may still go the way of Lewandowski.
Below is the full list of the 30 footballers shortlisted for this year’s Ballon d’Or.
Goalkeeper
Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG)
Defenders
Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
Simon Kjær (AC Milan)
Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
Midfielders
N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
Mason Mount (Chelsea)
Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
Pedri (Barcelona)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Jorginho (Chelsea)
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Forwards
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Lionel Messi (PSG)
Neymar (PSG)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal)
Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid)
The list will be screened until an eventual winner emerges.
This article was originally published on Naija News