Following his underwhelming first season with Paris Saint-Germain, Lionel Messi has been left out of the 30-strong list for this year’s Ballon d’Or award.
The seven-time winner of the award had been an ever-present amongst the nominations since 2006 and a regular feature in the top three since 2007 with the exception of 2018.
However, the 35-year-old missed out on the 2022 award. Recall that Messi recently switched from Barcelona to the French capital.
Remarkably, a change in the format has also worked against the Argentine superstar with the Ballon d’Or no longer acknowledging the best player over a calendar year.
Rather, it is based on a season’s record highlighting “the individual performances” and the “decisive and impressive character” of the nominees, according to the criteria.
After leaving Barcelona in the summer of 2021, the football icon was unable to stamp his genius on a PSG team desperate for a Champions League title.
Recall that PSG suffered a last-16 exit at the hands of eventual winners Real Madrid.
Surprisingly, Messi scored only 11 goals for PSG with his relatively indifferent club form failing to impress France Football magazine, the organisers of the Ballon d’Or which will be awarded in Paris on October 17.
Meanwhile, Messi’s rival, Cristiano Ronaldo made the list.
However, French international striker Karim Benzema is the overwhelming favourite after being the architect of Real Madrid’s 14th Champions League title.
Benzema finished the European campaign with 15 goals. He is likely to become the fifth French winner after Raymond Kopa (1958), Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985), Jean-Pierre Papin (1991) and Zinedine Zidane (1998).
