Ballon D'Or Nominees: No More Messi And Ronaldo, Bellingham Competes With Vinicius

Real Madrid duo Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe were nominated for the Ballon d'Or. (X/@ChampionsLeague)

JAKARTA - There are no more two football legends, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the nominations for the Ballon d'Or award. Now the new generation dominates as Jude Bellingham competes with his own colleagues, Vinicius Junor and Kyian Mbappe won the Best Player award.

Footballers from the post-generations Messi and Ronaldo who dominated the award. This is the first time since 2003 that there are no names of the two legends.

Both Messi, who recorded the most records with eight wins and Ronaldo, who was ranked second at most after winning the individual award five times, has entered retirement.

Ronaldo, now, plays in Saudi Arabia by strengthening Al Nassr. Meanwhile, Messi pulled over to the United States by playing at MLS. The Argentina captain defended Inter Miami before closing his long career.

Messi, who is the defending champion after winning the Ballo d'Or 2023, is actually still likely to be nominated this year. The reason is, this 36-year-old player brought Argentina to win and defend the 2024 Copa America.

But Messi turned out to have failed to be nominated. On the other hand, Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and striker Lautaro Martinez were nominated. Martinez, who only played at the Aston Villa club, remains nominated for helping Argentina win the Copa America. Meanwhile, Martinez also brought Inter Milan to the Scudetto.

They competed with Bellingham who won the doubles title, La Liga and the Champions League, with Real Madrid. However, Bellingham failed to bring England to win Euro 2024. If they succeed in winning, then it is certain that the Ballon d'Or will belong to this 21-year-old player.

Bellingham competed with compatriots Vinicius and Kylian Mbappe who brought Paris Saint-Germain to the French Ligue 1 title. This season, Mbappe left PSG to join Bellingham and Vinicius in Madrid.

Apart from Bellingham, England players who were nominated included Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden. However, only Foden was successful in domestic competitions by leading Manchester City to defend the English Premier League title.

Defender Dani Carvajal is the most complete player to win the championship trophy. This 32-year-old defender not only brought Madrid to double-winners with Bellingham and Vinicius, but he also brought Spain to win Euro 2024.

Carvajal is a strong candidate to win the Ballon d'Or. It's just that his position as a defender is not popular enough to win it. Only popular defenders like Franz Beckenbauer and Lotthar Matthaus can win it. Even Matthaus is better known for his position as a defensive midfielder than a sweeper. Beckenbauer's popular position.

Meanwhile, legendary defenders like Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini, both from AC Milan, have to settle for being nominated.

Spain, who won the European Cup, sent many nominations, including Nico Williams, Alejandro Grimaldo, Dani Olmo, Rodri and young star Lamine Yamal. Williams also brought Athletic Bilbao to the title in the Copa del Rey.

For the coaching category, Luis de la Fuente who succeeded with Spain competed with Lionel Scaloni who brought Argentina to the top by winning the 2022 World Cup, the Copa America twice. In addition, the manager of Man City from Spain Pep Guardiola is a candidate.

Ballon d'Or nominations for men's Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid), Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey, Inter Milan), Dani Carvajal (Spain, Real Madrid), Ruben Dias (Portugal, Manchester City), Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine, Dnipro/Girona/ASRoma), Phil Foden (England Manchester City), Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain, Bayer Leverkusen), Erling Haalland (Norwegia, Manchester City), Mathis (Germany, Borussia Dortmund/AS Roma), Harry Kane (England, Bayern Munich), Toni Kroos (Germany, Real Madrid), Ademola Lookman (Nigeria, Atalanta), Emiliano Martinez (Argentina, Aston Villa), Lautaro Martinez (Argentina, Inter Milan), Kylian Mbappe (France, Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid), Martin Odegaard (Norwegia, Arsenal), Dani Olmo (Spain, Leipzig/Barcelona), Cole Palmer (England, Manchester City/Chelsea), Declan Rice (England, Arsenal), Rodri (Spain, Manchester City) Antonio Rudiger (Germany, Real Madrid), Buka Saka (England, Arsenal), William Galiba (France, Arsenal), Federico Valverde (Uruguay, Real Madrid), Vin