After being officially excluded from the competition, Paris Saint-Germain French striker, the Argentine star Lionel Messi, revealed his candidate for winning the Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world. Messi said he nominates Karim Benzema to win the title without dispute, noting that this year was exceptional for Benzema as he appeared outstanding and succeeded in winning the Champions League and was one of the most important elements in his team.

Messi pointed out that Benzema was present in every match in the Champions League knockout stages, and I do not think there is any doubt about the player's deserving of the award as mentioned by Marca newspaper.

Date of announcing the Ballon d'Or winner

The announcement of the Ballon d'Or winner is scheduled for October 17 next in France. It is worth noting that Lionel Messi is the last to win the award last year for the seventh time in his career (a record), but he was absent from this year's final list due to a decline in his performance after moving from Barcelona to the Parisian club last summer.

Ballon d'Or nominees

The list included the names of a number of Arab players, namely Salah and Mahrez.

Mohamed Salah – Liverpool English

Belgian Thibaut Courtois – Real Madrid Spanish

Portuguese Rafael Leão – Milan Italian

French Christopher Nkunku – Red Bull Leipzig German

German Joshua Kimmich – Bayern Munich German

English Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool English

Brazilian Vinícius Júnior – Real Madrid Spanish

Portuguese Bernardo Silva - Manchester City English

Colombian Luis Díaz - Liverpool English

Polish Robert Lewandowski - Bayern – Barcelona

Algerian Riyad Mahrez – Manchester City English

Brazilian Casemiro – Real Madrid Spanish

South Korean Son Heung-min – Tottenham English

Brazilian Fabinho – Liverpool English

French Karim Benzema – Real Madrid Spanish

Mik Mægnan - Milan Italian

Harry Kane- Tottenham Hotspur English

Darwin Núñez Benfica – Liverpool English

Phil Foden - Manchester City English

Sadio Mané Liverpool – Bayern Munich German

Sébastien Haller - Ajax – Dortmund German

Luka Modrić - Real Madrid Spanish

Antonio Rüdiger - Chelsea – Real Madrid Spanish

Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United English

Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City English

Dusan Vlahović - Juventus Italian

Virgil van Dijk - Liverpool English

Cancelo - Manchester City English

Kylian Mbappé - Paris Saint-Germain French

Erling Haaland - Manchester City English