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#3 France — 3
Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe and N'Golo Kante are the three French players on the 2021 Ballon d'Or 30-man list. Among them, Karim Benzema is the only player without any trophies from last season. However, the Real Madrid man was on top of his game and found the net on a regular basis.
His fine form urged the French national team to lift the ban on him and picked him to play for the country at Euro 2020. Benzema ended up as the top goal-scorer for France at the tournament. He also finished the 2020/21 La Liga season as the top goal-getter for Real Madrid.
With 27 goals (the most in Ligue 1) and a Coupe de France trophy, Kylian Mbappe has made the final 30 as well. The Parisian striker has been lauded as the 'next big thing' in football and he has already shown enough signs.
Chelsea's beating heart N'Golo Kante is the next French player on the list. The UCL winner has been at the center of every club and national achievement in recent times. Along with his smile and humility, Kante is also known for his workrate.
#2 England — 4
If it wasn't for that ill-fated penalty shootout, England would have got everything right at Euro 2020. They conceded the least number of goals throughout the tournament to reach the final.
England's fantastic run was backed by supreme level individual performances. As a reward, four of their players have made it into the Ballon d'Or final 30. Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Phil Foden are those players.
Harry Kane and Sterling, with 4 and 3 goals, respectively, were the joint second and joint third-most goal-getters in the tournament. The latter also got inducted into the Team of the Tournament. Mason Mount and Phil Foden also enjoyed great success last year at club and international level.
#1 Italy — 5
They were deserved Euro 2020. Under the guidance of Roberto Mancini, the Azzurri went onto register a 37-games unbeaten run which also earned them the European Championship.
A total of five players made it to the final 30 of the Ballon d'Or 2021. Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Jorginho, Nicolo Barella and Gianluigi Donarrumma are the players to have made the cut.
Jorginho recently won the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award and this makes him a clear favorite over the others. While Bonucci and Chiellini failed to register another Scudetto, Barella did so with Inter. Donnarrumma, who bagged the EURO 2020 Player of the Tournament award, is expected to finish in the top half of the Ballon d'Or list as well.
