2024-09-05 12:11:40
The magazine France Football announced the candidates for the Ballon d’Or, the award given annually and with eight prizes, Lionel Messi is the most successful winner. Two Argentines are competing this year: Emiliano Martinezwho is also nominated for the award for best goalkeeper (which he already won after the 2022 World Cup; and Lautaro Martinez. Besides, Alejandro Garnacho competes for the award for best under-21 player.
Apart from the Aston Villa goalkeeper and the Inter and Manchester United forwards, the list includes Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid and PSG), Ademola Lookman (Atalanta), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Grant Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen), Artem Dovbik (AS Roma), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Dani Olmo (FC Barcelona and Leipzig), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen), Martin Ödegaard (Arsenal), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Rodri (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Vitinha (PSG), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), William Saliba (Arsenal), Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Inter), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) and Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid).
For his part, the coach of the Argentine National Team, Lionel Scaloni was nominated for the first Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded to the best coach in the world for their coronation at the 2024 Copa América in the United States.
The ceremony will be held on October 28th of this year at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris There will be six nominees for the “Best Coach in the World” award, including the Argentine coach for the first time.
In turn, this will be the first time that this award will be presented by France Footballsince they are always directed towards footballers, but that For this edition, the tribute will be incorporated with a golden award for the coach of the year..
Scaloni will be joined by five other exponents in the position: Josep “Pep” Guardiola (Manchester City), Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid), Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen) and Luis De la Fuente (Spanish national team).
However, this is not the first time that Scaloni has been nominated for an award for his performance.: In 2022 and 2023 he was nominated for and won the awards for Best Coach in the World by the IFFHS; Best Coach in the World 2022 by World Soccer and The Best for Best Men’s Football Coach 2022.
As for the women, the footballers nominated are Trinity Rodman (Washington Sprit), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars), Ada Hegerberg (Lyon), Manuela Giuliano (Roma), Barbra Banda (Shanghai RCB and Orlando Pride), Tarciane Lima (Corinthians and Houston Dash), Aitana Bonmatí (FC Barcelona), Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Glodis Viggosdottir (Bayern Munich), Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal and FC Barcelona), Lucy Bronze (FC Barcelona and Chelsea), Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City), Sjoeke Nüsken (Chelsea), Lindsey Horan (Lyon), Caroline Graham Hansen (FC Barcelona), Tabitha Chawinga (PSG and Lyon), Gabi Portilho (Corinthians), Patricia Guijarro (FC Barcelona), Lea Schüller (Bayern Munich), Lauren James (Chelsea), Salma Paralluelo (FC Barcelona), Giulia Gwinn (Bayern Munich), Khadija Shaw (Manchester City), Grace Geyoro (PSG), Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg and FC Barcelona), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), Mayra Ramírez (Levante and Chelsea) and Marie-Antoinette Katoto (PSG).
FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Olympique Lyon, Paris Saint-German and New York Gotham appear as the nominees for best club in women’s football. And in the women’s category, the outstanding coaches are Sarina Wiegman (Lyon and England national team), Filipa Patao (Benfica), Jonatan Giraldez (FC Barcelona and Washington Spirits), Arthur Elías (Corinthians), Emma Hayes (Chelsea and United States national team) and Sonia Bompastor (Lyon and Chelsea).