The shortlist for the 2022 Ballon d’Or award was released yesterday and it includes the names of six Liverpool players. The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football since 1956. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Fabinho, Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk all appear on the 30-man shortlist. Sadio Mané is also on the list.
Alisson Becker has received a nomination for the 2022 Yashin Trophy, which is the award given to the best goalkeeper. Despite having an incredible campaign for the Reds, Alisson didn’t qualify for the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or.
In a change of format for the award, the vote is based on a player’s achievements during the 2021-22 season. Previous awards were based solely on the calendar year in which the award was given. The awards will be given at a ceremony in Paris on October 17, voted on by international journalists.
2022 Yashin Trophy shortlist:
Yassine Bounou, Thibaut Courtois, Ederson, Mike Maignan, Edouard Mendy, Manuel Neuer, Jan Oblak, Kevin Trapp and Hugo Lloris.
2022 Ballon d’Or shortlist:
Thibaut Courtois, Rafael Leao, Christopher Nkunku, Mohamed Salah, Joshua Kimmich, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Vinicius Jr, Bernardo Silva, Luis Diaz, Robert Lewandowski, Riyad Mahrez, Casemiro, Hueng-Min Son, Fabinho, Karim Benzema, Mike Maignan, Harry Kane, Darwin Nunez, Phil Foden, Sadio Mane, Sebastien Haller, Luka Modric, Antonio Rudiger, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Dusan Vlahovic, Virgil van Dijk, Joao Cancelo, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland.
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema is the huge favorite for the individual award after the tremendous season he had last campaign and a lot of people have tipped him to win the gong layer this year. The French striker has already taken off from where he stopped last season.
