Ballon d’Or 2024: Nigeria’s Lookman, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, 27 others in contention

The shortlist for world football’s most prestigious individual award, Ballon d’Or 2024 has been revealed ahead of the ceremony in Paris on October 28

The Ballon d’Or is the award every footballer in the world dreams of one day winning. And now, after a memorable 2023-24 campaign, the shortlist of nominees for the 2024 Golden Ball has been announced with Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman, Kylian Mappe, Jude Bellingham leading the charge.

There are a host of top names vying to claim the prize that Lionel Messi took home for the eighth time in 2023, with performances not only at club level, but also at the various major tournaments that took place over the past 12 months having been taken into account when selecting this year’s list of potential winners.

We will have to wait until the ceremony in Paris on Monday, October 28 to find out, but for now, here are the players who have been shortlisted for football’s ultimate individual honour:

Full list of Ballon d’Or contenders

Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
Ruben-Dias-Man-CityGetty
Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Federico Valverde (Real Madrid)
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Nico Williams (Athletic Club)
Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen)
Artem Dovbyk (Roma)
Toni Kroos (retired)
Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)
Dani Olmo (Barcelona)
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
Mats Hummels (Roma)
Rodri (Manchester City)
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain)
Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter)
William Saliba (Arsenal)
Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
Ademola Lookman (Atalanta)
Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid)
Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen)