BREAKING - Lionel Messi missing from 2022 Ballon d'Or nominees

Tosin Abayomi 19:45 - 12 August 2022

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Paris Saint-Germain star Lionel Messi has not been included in the nominees for the 2022 Ballon d'Or award.

France Football, organizers of the award on Friday, August 12, 2022 released the nominees for the 2022 Ballon d'Or award.

Messi defeated Robert Lewandowski to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or Award.

Messi claimed the award after leading Barcelona to the Copa Del Rey and Argentina to the Copa America title in 2021.

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Ballon d'Or award nominees

Messi left La Liga giants Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain at the start of last season.

His first season in France did not go smoothly even though he help Paris Saint-Germain recapture the Ligue 1 title.

Messi's inconsistency in France has now cost him a nomination for the prestigious Ballon d'Or Award.

Messi has won the award on seven different occasions as is the record holder. However, this is the first time since 2005 the Argentina has been left off the nominees list.

Nominees include Thibaut Courtois, Mohamed Salah, Rafael Leao, Christopher Nkunku, Joshua Kimmich, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Vinicius Jr, Bernardo Silva, Luis Diaz, Robert Lewandowski, Riyad Mahrez, Casemiro, Heung-Min Son, Fabinho, Karim Benzema, Mike Maignan.

Others are Harry Kane Darwin Nunez, Phil Foden, Sadio Mane, Sebastien Haller, Luka Modric, Antonio Rudiger, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin de Bruyne, Dusan Vlahovic, Virgil van Dijk, Joao Cancelo, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.