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Ballon d’Or award gets a lot of attention these days. Arguably the biggest individual award in football, it is an annual football award given by France football since 1956. It was dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the past 10 years. The duo has lifted five awards each in the past decade.
Coming on to 2018, the 30-man shortlist for the award was announced throughout the day on Monday. As expected, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Kylian Mbappe, Eden Hazard, and Antoine Griezmann made it to the shortlist.
There were some surprising inclusions on the list with the likes of Roberto Firmino and Karim Benzema named in the final 30. But, the omissions of some of the players have raised a lot of eyebrows. Though they aren’t the front-runners for the award, they at least deserve to be in the shortlist.
On that note, let’s take a look at 5 shocking omissions from the 2018 Ballon d’Or shortlist.
#5 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Though he hasn’t won any silverware, the former Borussia Dortmund star is one of the most prolific strikers in world football right now. Having made his move to the Emirates this January, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored 14 goals and assisted five more in just 19 Premier League appearances for Arsenal.
The 29-year-old was exceptional for Borussia Dortmund as well with 13 goals and three assists in 16 Bundesliga appearances. The Gabon international has also scored six goals in European competitions for Dortmund and Arsenal, making it a total of 33 goals and eight assists since the start of 2017/18 campaign.
#4 Ivan Perisic
One of the underrated wingers in world football, Ivan Perisic has proved most of us wrong with some scintillating performances for Croatia in the 2018 World Cup. He played a crucial role in their run to the finals and finished the tournament with three goals and assist in seven games. He was unstoppable on the wings and destroyed opponents with his pace, energy, and skill.
He was also exceptional for Inter Milan in the 2017/18 Serie A campaign. The 29-year-old scored 11 goals and assisted nine more for the Serie A giants. Perisic was phenomenal for his club and country in the past 12 months. Though the Croatian international has no chance of winning the prestigious award, he deserves to be in the top 30.
#3 Samuel Umtiti
The Barcelona superstar might consider himself really unlucky to miss out on a place in the 2018 Ballon d’Or shortlist. Samuel Umtiti was exceptional for the Catalan giants during the 2017/18 season. The French international played a huge role in their La Liga and Copa del Rey success, and was consistent at the back. He did not finish with that.
The 24-year-old was phenomenal for France in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He produced stunning performances at the back for his national team and was crucial in their World Cup success. Along with Raphael Varane, Umtiti was rock solid and the duo helped France lift the trophy. He made six appearances in the competition and also scored a goal.
#2 Robert Lewandowski
The Poland international is one of the most consistent goal scorers in European football for quite some time. Robert Lewandowski played a stellar role for Bayern Munich in their Bundesliga title win during the 2017/18 season. He finished the season with 29 goals and two assists in Bundesliga. He ended up as the top goal scorer in Bundesliga for the 2017/18 season.
The 30-year-old has also scored five goals and an assist in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League campaign. Though Bayern Munich failed to qualify for the semifinals, Lewandowski was brilliant throughout the campaign. However, Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema was named ahead of the prolific Lewandowski in the Ballon d’Or shortlist.
#1 David de Gea
The Manchester United star and arguably the best goalkeeper in world football at the moment did not find a place in the 2018 Ballon d’Or shortlist. Though David De Gea wasn’t at his best in the 2018 World Cup for Spain, he was phenomenal for Manchester United in the Premier League.
He was extremely consistent for Manchester United and played a vital role in their second place finish in the 2017/18 Premier League season. He made some stunning saves throughout the campaign and was very consistent between the sticks. He saved the poor Manchester United defence on numerous occasions and was arguably their best player.
Less than a month ago, the Spaniard was named in the FIFPro World XI and his exclusion from the 30-man Ballon d’Or shortlist was a really shocking one.
