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The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual prize in football. It is presented by French news magazine France Football to the best performing footballer in a calendar year. The 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or was released on Friday (12 August). The following players have been included:
Karim Benzema, Trent Alexander-Arnold, João Cancelo, Casemiro, Thibaut Courtois, Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Luis Díaz, Fabinho, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Sébastien Haller, Harry Kane, Joshua Kimmich, Rafael Leão, Robert Lewandowski, Riyad Mahrez, Mike Maignan, Sadio Mané, Kylian Mbappé, Luka Modrić, Christopher Nkunku, Darwin Núñez, Antonio Rüdiger, Mohamed Salah, Bernardo Silva, Son Heung-min, Virgil van Dijk, Vinícius Júnior and Dušan Vlahović.
It'd be easy for football fans to notice that quite a few big names have been left out from the list. Without further ado, let's take a look at five deserving players who did not make the 2022 Ballon d'Or shortlist.
#5 Neymar Jr. (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain)
Neymar Jr. has certainly rediscovered his best form this year. He did miss a major portion of the 2021-22 season through injuries. However, Neymar led Brazil to World Cup qualification and played a pivotal role in maintaining their unbeaten record in the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
He scored 13 goals and provided eight assists in 28 appearances across all competitions for Paris Saint-Germain in the 2021-22 season. Neymar has also looked in fine touch heading into the new campaign.
In just two appearances across the Trophee des Champions and Ligue 1 so far, the Brazilian has scored three goals and provided three assists. It's not exactly criminal to have left him off the list. However, looking at his numbers and the fact that he won the Ligue 1 title, he could have been included in it.
#4 Mason Mount (England/Chelsea)
Mason Mount had made it to the 2021 Ballon d'Or 30-man shortlist. Granted, he had won the Champions League title with Chelsea that term but he did have a case this time around as well.
Mount made it to the finals of the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup with Chelsea last term, losing out to Liverpool on penalties on both occasions. Mount was also one of the Blues' best players last season, scoring 13 goals and providing 16 assists in 53 appearances across all competitions.
However, a lack of trophies seems to have cost him dearly as he most definitely showcased enough quality to be considered in the 30-man Ballon d'Or shortlist.
#3 Ciro Immobile (Italy/Lazio)
Ciro Immobile's exclusion is a testament to the fact that sheer individual brilliance alone won't get you anywhere close to the Ballon d'Or. Immobile finished the 2021-22 season as the top scorer in Serie A, with 27 goals in 31 appearances.
The 32-year-old scored 32 goals and provided four assists in 40 appearances across all competitions for I Biancocelesti last term. However, Lazio failed to qualify for the Champions League or win any major trophies.
Immobile also failed to replicate the same level of form for Italy and was part of the side that fell to North Macedonia in the World Cup qualifying playoff semi-final.
#2 Thomas Muller (Germany/Bayern Munich)
It's rather unfortunate that Thomas Muller, the 'assist king' of Europe, has not made the 30-man Ballon d'Or shortlist. The Germany international put up incredible numbers last term and his exploits played a huge role in Bayern Munich becoming Bundesliga champions.
The 32-year-old scored 13 goals and provided a whopping 25 assists in 45 appearances across all competitions for the Bavarians in the 2021-22 season. That's a total of 38 goal contributions and he also has the league title in his trophy cabinet.
Unfortunately, Muller has been snubbed and he has every right to feel hard done by that decision.
#1 Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain)
Lionel Messi had a rather underwhelming debut campaign at Paris Saint-Germain by his own lofty standards. But it's worth noting that he still managed to score 11 goals and provide 15 assists in 34 appearances across all competitions for PSG in the 2021-22 season.
Messi played a key role in PSG's triumphant run in Ligue 1 last term. He was also man-of-the-match in Argentina's win over Italy in the CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions, popularly known as the 'Finalissima'.
The record seven-time Ballon d'Or winner did a pretty decent job in 2022 and deserved to be named on the 30-man shortlist.
