Twitter explodes as France Football announce 30-man Ballon d'Or 2021 shortlist

The Ballon d'Or 30-man shortlist has been released by French news magazine France Football. The Ballon d'Or will be presented to the best male and female footballers at an event that will take place on November 29th. The current list will be reduced to just three individuals as we edge closer to it.

Lionel Messi, Jorginho, Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo lead Ballon d'Or 30-man shortlist

Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jorginho (Chelsea), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Simon Kjaer (AC Milan), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Gerard Moreno (Villarreal), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Pedri (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid).

Lionel Messi is tipped to be the favourite to win the Ballon d'Or this year. The Argentine has been in excellent form in 2021. He scored 38 goals and provided 14 assists in 47 appearances for the Catalans in the 2020-21 season. Messi also played a starring role in their Copa Del Rey triumph.

But his crowning achievement was leading Argentina to glory in the 2021 Copa America. The 34-year-old scored four goals and provided five assists and was chosen as the Best Player at the continental competition.

Robert Lewandowski is another top contender. The Bayern Munich striker broke Gerd Muller's long-standing record of scoring the most goals in a Bundesliga season, by scoring 41 in 29 matches. He was a standout performer for the Bavarians as they won the Bundesliga title in the 2020-21 season.

Lewandowski scored three goals for Poland at Euro 2020 but their group stage exit would have done him no favours as far as the Ballon d'Or race is concerned. Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho has had a glorious summer.

He played a key role for Chelsea as they won the UEFA Champions League title. Jorginho was a consistent performer for Italy as they were crowned champions of Europe in the summer. The 29-year-old would then go on to win the UEFA Super Cup as well, thereby completing a trophy haul that's unmatched this year.

He also won the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award and is a serious contender for the Ballon d'Or this term. Other big names on the list include Cristiano Ronaldo, N'Golo Kante, Kevin De Bruyne and Kylian Mbappe.

Kante's performances in the Champions League were critical to Chelsea winning the title. Ronaldo won the Golden Boot in the 2020-21 Serie A season and at Euro 2020 as well. He only has the Coppa Italia in the trophy department and that is likely to hamper his chances in the race for the Ballon d'Or this time around.

Without further ado, let's take a look at how Twitter responded to the Ballon d'Or 30-man shortlist.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

Know More