The list of Ballon d’Or nominees has been released

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema was the leading candidate for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.

The French international enjoyed an impressive season with Real Madrid, scoring 44 goals in 46 games and helping the team win the Champions League and La Liga titles.

Seven-time winner of the award, Lionel Messi, was not nominated this year for the first time since 2005, and his Paris Saint-Germain teammate, Brazilian Neymar, also missed the race.

Other candidates include Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, newly signed from Borussia Dortmund, and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah.

The prize winner will be announced on October 17.

For the first time, the award is based on a player’s performance during the regular season from August to July instead of a calendar year.

Here is the list of 30 candidates:

1- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

2- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)

3- Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)

4- Casemiro (Real Madrid)

5- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

6- Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea, then Real Madrid)

7- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

8. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)

9- Luis Diaz (Porto, then Liverpool)

10- Fabinho (Liverpool)

11- Darwin Nunes (Benfica, then Liverpool)

12- Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

13- Joao Cancelo (Manchester City)

14- Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)

15- Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)

16- Phil Foden (Manchester City)

17- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

18- Erling Holland (Borussia Dortmund, then Manchester City)

19- Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)

20 – Sadio Mane (Liverpool, then Bayern Munich)

21- Rafael Leo (AC Milan)

22- Mike Minnion (AC Milan)

23- Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)

24- Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)

25- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, then Barcelona)

26- Sebastian Haller (Ajax, then Borussia Dortmund)

27- Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

28- Dusan Vilahovic (Fiorentina, then Juventus)

29- Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)

30- Christopher Nagungo (Leipzig)