Messi and Haaland lead the official list of nominees for the 2022/23 Ballon d'Or

The 30 finalists have been revealed

France Football magazine published the list of the 30 finalists for the Ballon d'Or on Wednesday.

Within this group of outstanding players, two stand out above the rest: Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland.

The Argentine and the Norwegian are the favorites to win the most prestigious individual trophy in the world of football.

There are others on the shortlist who have had a great season, such as Vinicius, Rodri or Kevin de Bruyne, but it would be a surprise if Karim Benzema's successor is someone other than theInter Miami player or the Manchester City striker.

It should be noted that, unlike in the past, the performance taken into consideration is for the 2022/23 season, that is, from the beginning of August last year until the season ended in June.

Therefore, the World Cup in Qatar is taken into account, while helps Messi's bid for an eighth Ballon d'Or.

But, all is not lost for Haaland given his great goalscoring numbers and the treble of trophies he took home.

Argentina's win in Qatar is the reason for Messi's bid. The now Inter Miami footballer managed to score seven goals and provided three assists, participating in 10 of the 15 goals for his team.

The Argentine star was key in the tournament, allowing him to add the only trophy that was missing to his cabinet.

In addition, he put the national team on his back, with many young players who were at their first tournament such asJulian Alvarez, Enzo Fernandez or Alexis Mac Allister.

Even so, his campaign with PSG raises some doubts That's why he's not the overwhelming favorite. It is true that his numbers were much better than in 2021/22, but the elimination in the round of 16 of the Champions League isn't offset by the Ligue 1 title.

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