Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman is among the 30 soccer buffs nominated for the 2024 men’s Ballon d’Or award.
The Atalanta of Italy striker is the only African player in the list released by France Football Magazine Wednesday’s night.
His compatriot, Victor Osimhen, who was voted 8th best player last year, eight-time winner and current holder Lionel Messi, as well as five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo were left out of the 30 players nominated for the coveted award this year.
Lookman was in scintillating form as Atalanta won its first-ever European trophy last season, with the Nigerian scoring a hat-trick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen.
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He scored 17 goals and made 11 assists in all for Atalanta last season.
The former Everton and Leicester player was also instrumental in the Super Eagles’ run to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire early this year.
He scored two goals as the Nigerian team finished as runners-up in the competition after losing 2-1 to the hosts in the final.
This year’s Ballon d’Or list is dominated by players from the Spanish national team which won the Euro 2024 in the summer and the Real Madrid team that won the UEFA Champions League.
Some notable names on the list include Jude Bellingham, Vini Junior, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.
Messi claimed the eighth Ballon d’Or of his glittering career last year. Now aged 37, he is not among the 30 contenders this time despite winning another title with Argentina at the Copa America in July.
The former Barcelona superstar, now playing club football in MLS for Inter Miami, was also missing from the nominees in 2022 when Karim Benzema took the honours.
Full list of nominees:
Jude Bellingham
Hakan Çalhanoğlu
Dani Carvajal
Martin Ødegaard
Dani Olmo
Cole Palmer
Rúben Dias
Declan Rice
Artem Dovbyk
Rodri
Phil Foden
Antonio Rüdiger
Alejandro Grimaldo
Bukayo Saka
Erling Haaland
William Saliba
Mats Hummels
Federico Valverde
Harry Kane
Vinícius Jr.
Toni Kroos
Vitinha
Ademola Lookman
Nico Williams
Emiliano Martínez
Florian Wirtz
Lautaro Martínez
Kylian Mbappé
Granit Xhaka
Lamine Yamal
