Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne and Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen top the list of a 30-man list of players named by organisers of the 2023 Ballon D’Or awards on Wednesday, reports Prime Business Africa.
The prize will be presented in Paris, France on October 30 with Messi, tipped to win the award for the 8th time after he captained Argentina to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Haaland would be the first Norwegian man ever to win a Ballon d’Or. However, Norway striker Ada Hegerberg won the Ballon d’Or Feminin in 2018.
Three other 2022 World Cup winners been been nominated in the shape of Emiliano Martinez, Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez.
Of the 30 nominees, 27 currently play their club football in Europe. Two – Karim Benzema and Yassine Bounou – recently signed for teams in Saudi Arabia, while Inter Miami captain Messi is the only USA-based player on the list.
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen scored 26 league goals for Serie A champions, Napoli who won the title for the first time in 33 years after Diego Maradona inspired the team to glory in 1990.
Full List Of 2023 Men’s Ballon d’Or Nominees
Mohamed Salah – Liverpool/Egypt
Jamal Musiala – Bayern Munich/Germany
Karim Benzema – Al-Ittihad/France
Andre Onana – Man United/Cameroon
Josko Gvardiol – Man City/Croatia
Julian Alvarez – Man City/Argentina
Yassine Bounou – Al Hilal/Morocco
Vinicius Jr – Real Madrid/Brazil
Ilkay Gundogan – Barcelona/Germany
Martin Odegaard – Arsenal/Norway
Erling Haaland – Man City/Norway
Nicolo Barella – Inter Milan/Italy
Ruben Dias – Man City/Portugal
Emiliano Martinez – Aston Villa/Argentina
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – Napoli/Georgia
Bernardo Silva – Manchester City/Portugal
Randal Kolo Muani – PSG/France
Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid/England
Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City/Belgium
Bukayo Saka – Arsenal/England
Lionel Messi – Inter Miami/Argentina
Rodri – Man City/Spain
Lautaro Martinez – Inter Milan/Argentina
Antoine Griezmann – Atletico Madrid/France
Robert Lewandowski – Barcelona/Poland
Kim Min-jae – Bayern Munich/South Korea
Luka Modric – Real Madrid/Croatia
Kylian Mbappe – PSG/France
Victor Osimhen – Napoli/Nigeria
Harry Kane – Bayern Munich/England
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Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.