Football News: Lionel Messi snubbed from the prestigious Ballon d'Or list for the first time since 2005

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema leads the candidates as he seeks his first Ballon d'Or award. This year's nominations included Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, and Erling Haaland.

The nominations for the Ballon d'Or were announced on Friday, and two of soccer's biggest stars did not cut. Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. did not make the list of 30 nominees for the honour.

Messi hasn't been left off a Ballon d'Or shortlist since 2005, and he's won it seven times. Neymar, another team member, was also left off the list.

Messi has won the Ballon d'Or two times it has been awarded — in 2021 and 2019. As a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, the award was cancelled in 2020.

Lionel Messi's history with the Ballon d'Or

In 2005, his first season as a regular starter at Barcelona, the Argentine received his first Ballon d'Or nomination.

Messi previously received the award in 2015, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009. From 2007 to 2018, Messi finished in the top three every year, winning the award five times.

He has the most Ballon d'Or wins of any player. He has also placed second or third in the voting six times.

Neymar was also left off the list. He has yet to win the award; however, he has finished third in voting twice, in 2015 and 2017.

Messi and Neymar played for Paris Saint-Germain in the 2021-2022 season. The team finished first in Ligue 1 with a record of 26-8-4.

In his first season away from Barcelona, Messi did not achieve his usual lofty goalscoring standards during his initial season at PSG.

He did, however, provide plenty of assists, as he assisted on 14 goals in addition to the 11 he scored in his first season in France, culminating in a Ligue 1 title.

Internationally, he scored seven goals in 15 matches to help Argentina win the Finalissima.

Messi had six goals after scoring 30 for Barcelona in the 2020-2021 season. In 22 appearances with Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar scored 13 goals and had six assists.

Who are the other nominees for the Ballon d'Or

After helping Real Madrid win the LaLiga and Champions League double last season, France international Benzema has had a fantastic year.

The 34-year-old concluded the 2021-22 season as LaLiga's leading scorer with 27 goals while scoring in every Champions League knockout round and just missing out on scoring in the final after a goal was disallowed.

He also won silverware on the international stage, scoring in France's 2-1 victory over Spain in October to help them win the UEFA Nations League.

After the Ballon d'Or chose to undergo drastic changes this year, the striker is the favourite to win it.

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool has also been nominated for the trophy following a fantastic season.

The attacker was named the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year after sharing the Premier League Golden Boot with fellow Ballon d'Or contender Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-Min.

Mohamed Salah, last season's joint Premier League top striker, is featured after giving the most assists last season, despite Liverpool falling just short of the title.

His teammates are Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Fabinho, and Darwin Nunez. Tottenham's representatives are Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son.

Rafael Leao of AC Milan and goalkeeper Mike Maignan of Inter Milan are on the list after winning the Serie A title last season.

Christopher Nkunku, the 2021/22 Bundesliga Player of the Season, and Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich both make the squad, as does former Liverpool attacker Sadio Mane.

Catarina Macario, Alex Morgan, and Trinity Rodman are three US women's national team players among the 20 nominees for the Women's Ballon d'Or.

Despite suffering a significant knee injury on the eve of this summer's European Championships, last year's winner, Alexia Putellas, is one of five Barcelona players on the list.