Monday, October 26, 2026

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.

• September 4, 2024
Ademola Lookman
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

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

Nigerian Bar Association

States

Independence: NBA urges Nigerians to expect better future

The NBA said that ordinary Nigerians should be deriving benefit from the subsidy removal rather than hardship.

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Image used to tell the story

NationWide

Nigeria edge Uganda by 1 run to win Cricket World Cup Africa qualifier

Nigeria scored 148 runs in 19.4 overs before restricting Uganda to 147 for nine in 20 overs at the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) Oval 1 on Sunday.

NiMet

Heading 1

NiMet predicts three-day dust haze, thunderstorms nationwide from Monday

For Wednesday, the agency forecast sunny and hazy conditions across the northern region throughout the day.

screening of travellers

Health

Ebola: Kebbi intensifies  surveillance at airport, border 

Mr Abubakar stressed the state government’s commitment to protecting residents through proactive disease surveillance.

Image used to illustrate the story

NationWide

Osoba celebrates veteran journalist Bonuola at 80

Mr Osoba described Mr Bonuola as a serious minded intellectual.

Adewole Adebayo

NationWide

SDP presidential candidate seeks balanced media coverage of political parties

Mr Adebayo urged political parties to present clear policy proposals to address the country’s challenges.