Messi snubbed as 30 finalists are unveiled for Ballon d'Or

Lionel Messi, winner of a record seven Ballon d'Or awards, has been left off the list of 30 nominees for the best male player in 2022.

It's the first time he's not featured on a Ballon d'Or shortlist since 2005.

Messi, 35, moved to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona last summer after winning the Copa America with Argentina. He scored 11 goals and tallied 14 assists for Les Parisiens across Ligue 1 and Champions League play in 2021-22. He ended the season with a Ligue 1 winners medal, in addition to an early-season triumph in France's Trophee des Champions.

Players from Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Liverpool unsurprisingly feature heavily in the list released by France Football on Friday.

2022 Men's Ballon d'Or nominees

Player	Club	Country
Trent Alexander-Arnold	Liverpool	England
Karim Benzema	Real Madrid	France
Joao Cancelo	Manchester City	Portugal
Casemiro	Real Madrid	Brazil
Thibaut Courtois	Real Madrid	Belgium
Luis Diaz	Liverpool/FC Porto	Colombia
Kevin De Bruyne	Manchester City	Belgium
Fabinho	Liverpool	Brazil
Phil Foden	Manchester City	England
Erling Haaland	Manchester City	Norway
Sebastien Haller	Borussia Dortmund/Ajax	Ivory Coast
Harry Kane	Tottenham Hotspur	England
Joshua Kimmich	Bayern Munich	Germany
Rafael Leao	AC Milan	Portugal
Robert Lewandowski	Barcelona/Bayern Munich	Poland
Riyad Mahrez	Manchester City	Algeria
Mike Maignan	AC Milan	France
Sadio Mane	Bayern Munich/Liverpool	Senegal
Kylian Mbappe	Paris Saint-Germain	France
Luka Modric	Real Madrid	Croatia
Christopher Nkunku	RB Leipzig	France
Darwin Nunez	Liverpool/Benfica	Uruguay
Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	Portugal
Antonio Rudiger	Real Madrid/Chelsea	Germany
Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	Egypt
Bernardo Silva	Manchester City	Portugal
Son Heung-Min	Tottenham Hotspur	South Korea
Vinicius Junior	Real Madrid	Brazil
Virgil van Dijk	Liverpool	Netherlands
Dusan Vlahovic	Juventus/Fiorentina	Serbia

Other standout footballers not considered for the 2022 Ballon d'Or include Real Madrid's Toni Kroos and Manchester City's Rodri. Neymar, one of Messi's strike partners at PSG, also missed out.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo was included in the nominees, meaning he's been on every Ballon d'Or shortlist since 2004. The top three of that year were Andriy Shevchenko, Deco, and Ronaldinho.

2022 Women's Ballon d'Or nominees

England's Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, and Beth Mead are under consideration for the Women's Ballon d'Or after winning Euro 2022 on home soil this summer.

The 20-strong shortlist also includes an American trio of Catarina Macario, Alex Morgan, and Trinity Rodman.

Alexia Putellas, who won the Women's Ballon d'Or in 2021, was nominated alongside four Barcelona teammates.

Player	Club	County
Selma Bacha	Lyon	France
Aitana Bonmati	Barcelona	Spain
Millie Bright	Chelsea	England
Lucy Bronze	Barcelona/Manchester City	England
Kadidiatou Diani	Paris Saint-Germain	France
Christiane Endler	Lyon	Chile
Ada Hegerberg	Lyon	Norway
Marie-Antoinette Katoto	Paris Saint-Germain	France
Sam Kerr	Chelsea	Australia
Catarina Macario	Lyon	United States
Beth Mead	Arsenal	England
Vivianne Miedema	Arsenal	Netherlands
Alex Morgan	San Diego Wave	United States
Lena Oberdorf	Wolfsburg	Germany
Asisat Oshoala	Barcelona	Nigeria
Alexandra Popp	Wolfsburg	Germany
Alexia Putellas	Barcelona	Spain
Wendie Renard	Lyon	France
Trinity Rodman	Washington Spirit	United States
Fridolina Rolfo	Barcelona	Sweden

Kopa Trophy nominees

The Kopa Trophy, presented since 2018 to the best player under the age of 21, features six nominees who were also in the running for last year's award.

Spaniard Gavi will be looking to follow in the footsteps of compatriot and Barcelona teammate Pedri, who claimed the honor in 2021.

Player	Club	Country
Karim Adeyemi	Borussia Dortmund/Red Bull Salzburg	Germany
Jude Bellingham	Borussia Dortmund	England
Eduardo Camavinga	Real Madrid	France
Gavi	Barcelona	Spain
Ryan Gravenberch	Bayern Munich/Ajax	Netherlands
Nuno Mendes	PSG	Portugal
Jamal Musiala	Bayern Munich	Germany
Josko Gvardiol	RB Leipzig	Croatia
Bukayo Saka	Arsenal	England
Florian Wirtz	Bayer Leverkusen	Germany

Yachine Trophy nominees

The Yachine Trophy, named after iconic goalkeeper Lev Yashin, is awarded to the game's top netminder. Thibaut Courtois, the standout performer in Real Madrid's victory over Liverpool in last season's Champions League final, is viewed as the favorite to claim the hardware for the first time in his career.

Player	Club	Country
Yassine Bounou	Sevilla	Morocco
Alisson Becker	Liverpool	Brazil
Thibaut Courtois	Real Madrid	Belgium
Ederson	Manchester City	Brazil
Mike Maignan	AC Milan	France
Edouard Mendy	Chelsea	Senegal
Manuel Neuer	Bayern Munich	Germany
Jan Oblak	Atletico Madrid	Slovenia
Kevin Trapp	Eintracht Frankfurt	Germany
Hugo Lloris	Tottenham Hotspur	France