Ballon d’Or: Lionel Messi is left off list of contenders for soccer’s biggest individual prize

Lionel Messi may be considered by many as the greatest soccer player of all time, but the Argentina star was omitted from the list of nominations to win this year’s Ballon d’Or award — the sport’s most prized individual honor.
The record eight-time winner and holder of the trophy did not feature Wednesday in a list of 30 players in the running for the award, which will be presented Oct. 28.
Also excluded was Messi’s great rival, five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo. It was the first time since 2003 that neither player made the list.
Vinicius Junior, Rodri, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane are among the names nominated.
Messi, who left European soccer behind when moving from Paris Saint-Germain to Inter Miami last year, is still delivering at a high level and helped Argentina win the Copa America in July. The 37-year-old beat Manchester City striker Haaland to the award last year, but will not defend his title.

Messi 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.
Messi and Ronaldo turned the competition into a near-two-way contest during the peak of their careers — winning it a combined 13 times from 2008.