Super Eagles star Lookman nominated for Ballon d’Or; Messi, Ronaldo, Osimhen miss out

Lookman bagged a hat-trick as Atalanta won its first-ever European trophy last season.

Wale Agbede • September 4, 2024

Ademola Lookman

Nigerian forward Ademola Lookman has been nominated for the 2024 men’s Ballon d’Or award.

The 26-year-old Atalanta player is the only African player shortlisted alongside 29 other players for the coveted award, announced by France Football Magazine on Wednesday.

Lookman was instrumental in Atalanta’s first-ever European trophy win last season, scoring a hat-trick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen. He scored 17 goals and made 11 assists in all for Atalanta last season.

He was also a key part of the Super Eagles’ run to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire early this year, scoring two goals as Nigeria finished as runners-up.

This year’s Ballon d’Or list is dominated by players from the Spanish national team that won the Euro 2024 and the Real Madrid team that won the UEFA Champions League.

Some notable names on the list include Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Erling Haaland, and Kylian Mbappe. And for the first time since 2003, neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo are in contention for one of football’s biggest individual prizes.

Full list of nominees:

Jude Bellingham

Hakan Çalhanoğlu

Dani Carvajal

Martin Ødegaard

Dani Olmo

Cole Palmer

Rúben Dias

Declan Rice

Artem Dovbyk

Rodri

Phil Foden

Antonio Rüdiger

Alejandro Grimaldo

Bukayo Saka

Erling Haaland

William Saliba

Mats Hummels

Federico Valverde

Harry Kane

Vinícius Jr.

Toni Kroos

Vitinha

Ademola Lookman

Nico Williams

Emiliano Martínez

Florian Wirtz

Lautaro Martínez

Kylian Mbappé

Granit Xhaka

Lamine Yamal

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