Four Portuguese are part of the 30 nominees for the 2022 Ballon d’Or, award for the best player in the world awarded by France Football.
Or rather… three.
Rafael Leão, after a high-level season at Milan’s service, makes his debut in these adventures. Cristiano Ronaldo, winner of the distinction five times, is also a candidate, as is João Cancelo, Manchester City side.
The Brazilian Bernardo
Then there’s Bernardo Silva: the City midfielder is also named, but initially identified by France Football as a Brazilian player. Only minutes later the error was corrected.
Furthermore, Darwin Núñez, who recently left Benfica for Liverpool, is also named, as is Luis Díaz, who transferred from FC Porto to the reds in January this year.
Left out was Lionel Messi, who is the current holder of the distinction – he has won seven times.
The Ballon d’Or award is presented on October 17 in Paris.
All Ballon d’Or nominees:
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Rafael Leão (Milan), Christopher Nkunku (Leipzig), Mo Salah (Liverpool), Kimmich (Bayern Munique), Trent Alexander Arnold (Liverpool), Vinícius Jr (Real Madrid), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City ), Luis Díaz (Liverpool), Lewandowski (Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Heung-Min Son (Tottenham), Fabinho (Liverpool), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Mike Maignan (Milan ), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Darwin (Liverpool), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Sadio Mané (Bayern Munique), Sébastien Haller (Dortmund), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo ( Manchester United), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), João Cancelo (Manchester City), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) e Erling Haaland (Manchester City).
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