France Football have unveiled the 30-man rankings for the 2023 Ballon d’Or Award held on Monday night in Paris and three African players made the list as Lionel Messi won the individual prize.
The three players are Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Cameroon’s Andre Onana.
The three players were outstanding in their performance for their respective clubs last season.
Osimhen, who finished 8th on the list, was exceptional in Napoli’s Serie A title win – a feat it had not achieved in 30 years – and also won the Golden Boot for the top scorer award.
Salah, sitting in 11th position, helped Liverpool finish in the top five of the Premier League table last season with 19 goals and 7 assists.
In 23rd position, Onana for Inter Milan was brilliant in the team’s build-up to the Champions League final where they lost 1-0 against Manchester City before he left the club in the summer to join Manchester United.
At the 2023 Ballon d’Or award, Messi defeated Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (second position) and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé (third position) to receive his eighth award.
Meanwhile, Manchester City players, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri were in fourth and fifth position on the rankings following their excellent performance for Man City last season in winning the treble – Champions League, Premier League and the FA Cup.
Full list of 2022 Ballon d’Or final power rankings:
30 – Ruben Dias
28 – Randal Kolo Muani
27 – Nicolo Barella
26. Jamal Musiała
25. Josko Gvardiol
24. Bukayo Saka
23.André Onana
22.Min-jae Kim
21. Antoine Griezmann
20.Lautaro Martinez
19.Harry Kane
18.Jude Bellingham
17.Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
16. Karim Benzema
14. Ilkay Gündogan
13.Yassine Bounou
12. Robert Lewandowski
11. Mohamed Salah
9. Bernardo Silva
8. Victor Osimhen
7. Julian Alvarez
6. Vinicius Jr.
5. Rodri
4. Kevin de Bruyne
3. Kylian Mbappe
2. Erling Haaland
1. Lionel Messi
