With Alisson, Firmino and Marquinhos, France Football reveals candidates for the Ballon d’Or | international football

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Goalkeeper Alisson and forward Roberto Firmino, both from Liverpool, and defender Marquinhos, from Paris Saint-Germain, are the Brazilian players present among the first 25 announced. France Football will release the last five competitors later this Monday.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two record holders for the award, each with five Ballons d’Or, are again among the contenders. The big surprise was the absence of Croatian Luka Modric, winner of the last edition of the Ballon d’Or. It is the first time that an award recipient is not even nominated among the finalists the following year.

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Júnior is among the ten nominees for the newly created Kopa Award, which will be given to the best player under the age of 21. Also on the list is the Portuguese João Félix, from Atlético de Madrid.

Another award created this year is the Yashin Trophy, for best goalkeeper, with two Brazilians among the ten nominees: Alisson and Ederson, from Manchester City.

List of Ballon d’Or candidates:

• Alisson Becker (Brazil) – Liverpool
• Antoine Griezmann (France) – Barcelona
• Bernard Silva (Portugal) – Manchester City
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – Juventus
• Donny van de Beek (Netherlands) – Ajax
• Dusan Tadic (Serbia) – Ajax
• Eden Hazard (Bélgica) – Chelsea/Real Madrid
• Frenkie de Jong (Holanda) – Ajax/Barcelona
• georginio Wijnaldum (Holand) – Liverpool
• Heung-min Son (South Korea) – Tottenham
• Hugo Lloris (France) – Tottenham
• João Félix (Portugal) – Benfica/Atletico Madrid
• Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal) – Naples
• Karim Benzema (France) – Real Madrid
• Kevin De Bruyne (Bélgica) – Manchester City
• Kylian Mbappe (France) – Paris Saint-Germain
• Lionel Messi (Argentina) – Barcelona
• Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Germany) – Barcelona
• Marquinhos (Brazil) – Paris Saint-Germain
• Matthijs de Ligt (Holanda) – Ajax/Juventus
• Mohamed Wrong (Egypt) – Liverpool
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) – Arsenal
• Raheem Sterling (Inglaterra) – Manchester City
• Riyad Mahrez (Argélia) – Manchester City
• Robert Lewandowski (Poland) – Bayern
• Roberto firmino (Brazil) – Liverpool
• Sound mane (Senegal) – Liverpool
• Sergio Omen (Argentina) – Manchester City
• Trent Alexander-Arnold (Inglaterra) – Liverpool
• Virgil van Dijk (Holand) – Liverpool

List of candidates for the Kopa Trophy (under-21)

• Andriy Lunin (Ukraine) – Valladolid
• Jadon Sancho (Inglaterra) – Borussia Dortmund
• João Félix (Portugal) – Benfica/Atletico Madrid
• Kai Havertz (Germany) – Bayer Leverkusen
• Kang-in Lee (South Korea) – Valencia
• Mattéo Guendouzi (France) – Arsenal
• Matthijs de Ligt (Holanda) – Ajax/Juventus
• Moses Kean (Italy) – Juventus/Everton
• Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria) – Villarreal
• Vinicius Junior (Brazil) – Real Madrid

List of candidates for the Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper)

• Alisson Becker (Brazil) – Liverpool
• Others Onana (Cameroon) – Ajax
• Ederson (Brazil) – Manchester City
• Hugo Lloris (France) – Tottenham
• Jan cloud (Slovenia) – Atletico Madrid
• Kepa Arrizabalaga (Spain) – Chelsea
• Manuel News (Germany) – Bayern Munich
• Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Germany) – Barcelona
• Samir Handanovic (Slovenia) – Inter Milan
• Wojciech Szczesny (Poland) – Juventus

Criteria for choosing

• List of nominees is established by the editorial staff of France Football;
• An international jury of specialized journalists, with one representative per country, chooses five players from the list of 30 available, receiving six points (first place), four, three, two and one in a row;
• The judges must take into account three criteria: individual and collective presentation, player’s category and athlete’s career.

• Difference for men is that the previous list is 20 players, instead of 30.

Kopa Trophy (players under 21)

• Prize is awarded by a jury composed exclusively of Golden Ball winners. Each judge nominates three players from a list of ten previously established by France Football;
• Young people selected by the voter receive five, three and one point.

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper)

• International jury of journalists chooses three players from a list of 10 previously selected players.