The 30 player shortlist has been announced by the France Football for the Official Ballon d'Or 2023. The Ballon D'Or is regarded as the most valuable award for a footballer and it's the dream of every single football player to get their hands on the trophy.
The current holder of the award is French player Karim Benzema. He won the Ballon d'Or because of his record breaking season at Real Madrid, where he won the La Liga and the Champions League.
Lionel Messi has won the award for the most number of times, which is 7 and this year too he has a pretty good chance of winning it. Messi didn't have a good domestic season with PSG but his World Cup triumph with Argentina would be very crucial in winning him this award for a record 8th time.
Another player who has a very good chance of winning the award is Erling Haaland. The player has shattered many records last season and is continuing to do so. Last month he was named UEFA Best Player of the Year and PFA Player' Player of the Year and now he's nominated for the Ballon d'Or. If he wins it, it would be his first ever Ballon d'Or.
The player with the most nominations(18), Cristiano Ronaldo has not been nominated this time around. He missed the Ballon d'Or nominations for the first time since 2003 which is quite extraordinary. He also has 5 Ballon d'Ors to his name but unfortunately he won't be able to add to his tally this year.
The Ballon d'Or 2023 ceremony will be held at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on October 30.
This is when the winner of the Ballon d'Or 2023 will be announced.
