Vini Jr. and Bellingham lead nominees list for 2024 Ballon d'Or

Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham remain the leading contenders for the 2024 Ballon d'Or award, with Rodri in the mix, who is your money on? (Photo credit: GOAL)

For the first time since the 2003 edition, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo is on the 30-man nominee list for this year’s top football award, the Ballon d’Or.

Record eight-time winner Messi and his long-time rival Ronaldo, who has five Ballon d'Ors to his name, did not feature in Wednesday’s list of players in the running for this year's prize, which will be presented on Oct. 28.

As expected, Real Madrid’s duo of Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham leads the way, while their new teammate Kylian Mbappe joins Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane in the top five for this year’s award.

Vinicius Junior and Bellingham were instrumental to Real Madrid’s 15^th UEFA Champions League triumph, beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the final while also winning the La Liga title, losing only one game on their way.

Erling Haaland led the goal scoring chart in the Premier League despite missing so many weeks with injury and helped Manchester City to their fourth title in a row, while Harry Kane did the same at Bayern but lost the title to Bayern Leverkusen, who went unbeaten.

Messi, who is working his way back from injury with club side Inter Miami, won the award last year. Messi, 37, won his first Ballon d'Or in 2009—the start of a four-year streak of taking the top prize. He was first nominated in 2006.

Ronaldo and Messi turned the competition into a nearly two-way contest during the peak of their careers, winning it a combined 13 times since 2008. Ronaldo's first nomination was in 2004, while his first win was in 2008.

Among the nominees for the coach of the year are Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti, who is the firm favourite after winning La Liga and the Champions League; Xabi Alonso of Leverkusen for his enviable feat; and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola.

On the Premier League front, Spain's Rodri remains the highest-ranked player with a fine shout for the award after leading La Roja to the European title and helping City to the Premier League title.

The quartet of Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Martin Odegaard, and Declan Rice from Arsenal all made the list, while Chelsea's Cole Palmer got a nomination after a stellar year for the Blues in his debut season.