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Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, and Lionel Messi were all included on the list for the honor, which was earned by Karim Benzema of France last year. After being unexpectedly left off of the 30-man shortlist for the 2022 award, Messi, a star for Inter Miami, made his first comeback to the nominations. But this time, Messi has been chosen to compete for the award among the best in the world, and he will be trying to stave off the opposition to win his eighth Ballon d'Or.

Many have predicted that Messi will win the trophy in 2023 after winning the World Cup with Argentina in December and the Ligue 1 championship with PSG. He will have to work hard to defeat Manchester City's stalwart Haaland to the championship, though, as the Norwegian attacker had an outstanding maiden season in England.

Six of Haaland's City teammates were also included in the Ballon d'Or shortlist, including Kevin de Bruyne, Rodri, Ruben Dias, Julian Alvarez, Josko Gvardiol, and Bernardo Silva. After putting up strong performances throughout 2023, just three England internationals—Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, and Jude Bellingham—made the shortlist. Notably, Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time winner of the Ballon d'Or, was left off the list for the first time since 2005.

The Portuguese football legend announced his retirement from the continent in December and has since spent the entire year playing for Saudi club Al-Nassr. On Wednesday afternoon, the nominations for the Yachine Trophy (best goalkeeper), Kopa Trophy (best U21 player), and Women's Ballon d'Or were also made public. Jude Bellingham, Rasmus Hojlund, Jamal Musiala, and Gavi, the Kopa Trophy winners from the previous year, were among those who made the shortlist.

Official: The nominees for the 2023 Ballon d'Or:

Josko Gvardiol

Jamal Musiala

  Andre Onana

Karim Benzema

Mo Salah

Bukayo Saka

Kevin De Bruyne

Jude Bellingham

Randal Kolo Muani

Bernando Silva

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Nicolo Barella

Emi Martínez

Ruben Dias

Erling Haaland

Martin Odegaard

Ilkay Gündogan

Yassine Bounou

Julian Alvarez

Vinicius Jr

Robert Lewandowski

  Antoine Griezmann

Lautaro Martínez

Lionel Messi

Rodri

Kim Min-Jae

Luka Modric

Kylian Mbappé

Victor Osimhen

Harry Kane