Emiliano Martínez and Lautaro Martínez were included by France Football among the 30 candidates for the 2024 Ballon d’Or , which takes into account the performance of footballers from around the world between the middle of last year and the first half of this year. El Dibu and El Toro, from Aston Villa and Inter Milan, respectively, are the two Argentine footballers who will fight for the award that Lionel Messi won eight times.
The prestigious French magazine revealed today all the possible winners of its awards, which in addition to the best player of the last season also recognise the best young players, goalkeepers and coaches as well as the same in women’s football. Among the candidates for the most important award are renowned footballers such as Kylian Mbappé, Haaland and Vinicius, as well as the young Lamine Yamal . For the first time in 21 years, neither Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo appear among the 30 players .
Dibu , who was key in getting Aston Villa back into the Champions League after 41 years and was the America’s champion goalkeeper with just one goal conceded and another penalty shootout as a hero , had already been nominated for the award for best footballer in the world last year, while Lautaro , Serie A top scorer and captain of the champion Inter Milan as well as top scorer for the National Team in the Copa América , including a goal in the final, is on the list for the third time in the last four years.
In the last nomination, in addition to the goalkeeper and the number 9, there were Leo Messi (winner) and Julián Álvarez (finished in 7th place). There are only two South Americans, who are the aforementioned Vinicius, from Brazil, and the Uruguayan Federico Valverde .
The 30 candidates for the 2024 Ballon d’Or and the numbers of their season
- Hakan Çalhanoglu (Turkey, 30 years old, Inter Milan): 52 games, 17 goals, 3 assists
- Dani Carvajal (Spain, 32 years old, Real Madrid): 54 games, 7 goals, 7 assists
- Ruben Dias (Portugal, 27 years old, Manchester City): 54 games, 1 goal, 1 assist
- Artem Dovbik (Ukraine, 27 years old, SK Dnipro-1 / Girona / AS Roma): 54 games, 29 goals, 11 assists
- Phil Foden (England, 24 years old, Manchester City): 69 games, 28 goals, 12 assists
- Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain, 28 years old, Bayer Leverkusen): 57 games, 12 goals, 20 assists
- Erling Haaland (Norway, 24 years old, Manchester City): 53 games, 45 goals, 5 assists
- Mats Hummels (Germany, 35 years old, Borussia Dortmund): 42 games, 4 goals, 1 assist
- Harry Kane (England, 31 years old, Bayern Munich): 59 games, 52 goals, 13 assists
- Toni Kroos (Germany, 34 years old, Real Madrid / Retired): 56 games, 1 goal, 12 assists
- Ademola Lookman (Nigeria, 26 years old, Atalanta Bergamasca): 61 games, 22 goals, 11 assists
- Emiliano Martínez (Argentina, 32 years old, Aston Villa): 62 games, 27 clean sheets
- Lautaro Martínez (Argentina, 27 years old, Inter Milan): 60 games, 35 goals, 4 assists
- Kylian Mbappé (France, 25 years old, Paris SG / Real Madrid): 62 games, 52 goals, 20 assists
- Martin Ödegaard (Norway, 25 years old, Arsenal): 56 games, 12 goals, 12 assists
- Dani Olmo (Spain, 26 years old, RB Leipzig / FC Barcelona): 33 games, 13 goals, 7 assists
- Cole Palmer (England, 22 years old, Manchester City / Chelsea): 57 games, 30 goals, 17 assists
- Declan Rice (England, 25 years old, Arsenal): 66 games, 7 goals, 10 assists
- Rodri (Spain, 28 years old, Manchester City): 63 games, 12 goals, 14 assists
- Antonio Rüdiger (Germany, 31 years old, Real Madrid): 62 games, 3 goals, 1 assist
- Bukayo Saka (England, 22 years old, Arsenal): 59 games, 21 goals, 16 assists
- William Saliba (France, 23 years old, Arsenal): 63 games, 2 goals, 1 assist
- Federico Valverde (Uruguay, 26 years old, Real Madrid): 67 games, 5 goals, 7 assists
- Vinícius Jr (Brazil, 24 years old, Real Madrid): 49 games, 26 goals, 12 assists
- Vitinha (Portugal, 24 years old, Paris SG): 57 games, 9 goals, 6 assists
- Nico Williams (Spain, 22 years old, Athletic Bilbao): 49 games, 11 goals, 22 assists
- Florian Wirtz (Germany, 21 years old, Bayer Leverkusen): 64 games, 21 goals, 21 assists
- Granit Xhaka (Switzerland, 31 years old, Bayer Leverkusen): 65 games, 5 goals, 3 assists
- Lamine Yamal (Spain, 17 years old, FC Barcelona): 65 games, 10 goals, 14 assists
