With France, Alisson, Firmino and Marquinhos, France Football reveals Golden Ball candidates | international football

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Goalkeeper Alisson and striker Roberto Firmino, both from Liverpool, and defender Marquinhos, from Paris Saint-Germain, are the Brazilian players present in the first 25 announced. France Football will release the last five contestants later on Monday.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two record holders of the award, each with five Golden Balls, are again among the contestants. The big surprise was the absence of Croatian Luka Modric, winner of the last edition of the Golden Ball. It is the first time that an award winner is not even nominated among the finalists in the following year.

Real Madrid striker Vinicius Júnior is among the ten nominees for the newly created Kopa Award, which will be given to the best player up to 21 years old. Also on the list is the Portuguese João Félix, from Atlético de Madrid.

Another award created this year is the Yashin Trophy, for best goalkeeper, with two Brazilians among the ten nominees: Alisson and Ederson, from Manchester City.

List of candidates for the Golden Ball:

• Alisson Becker (Brazil) – Liverpool
• Antoine Griezmann (France) – Barcelona
• Bernardo silva (Portugal) – Manchester City
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – Juventus
• Donny van de Beek (Holland) – Ajax
• Dusan Tadic (Serbia) – Ajax
• Eden Hazard (Bélgica) – Chelsea / Real Madrid
• Frenkie de Jong (Holanda) – Ajax / Barcelona
• Georginio Wijnaldum (Holanda) – Liverpool
• Heung-min Son (South Korea) – Tottenham
• Hugo Lloris (France) – Tottenham
• João Félix (Portugal) – Benfica / Atlético de Madrid
• Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal) – Naples
• Karim Benzema (France) – Real Madrid
• Kevin De Bruyne (Bélgica) – Manchester City
• Kylian Mbappé (França) – Paris Saint-Germain
• Lionel Messi (Argentina) – Barcelona
• Marc-André Ter Stegen (Germany) – Barcelona
• Marquinhos (Brazil) – Paris Saint-Germain
• Matthijs de Ligt (Holanda) – Ajax / Juventus
• Mohamed Wrong (Egypt) – Liverpool
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) – Arsenal
• Raheem Sterling (Inglaterra) – Manchester City
• Riyad Mahrez (Argélia) – Manchester City
• Robert Lewandowski (Poland) – Bayern
• Roberto Firmino (Brazil) – Liverpool
• Sound Mane (Senegal) – Liverpool
• Sergio Omen (Argentina) – Manchester City
• Trent Alexander-Arnold (Inglaterra) – Liverpool
• Virgil van Dijk (Holanda) – Liverpool

List of candidates for the Kopa Trophy (under-21)

• Andriy Lunin (Ukraine) – Valladolid
• Jadon Sancho (Inglaterra) – Borussia Dortmund
• João Félix (Portugal) – Benfica / Atlético de Madrid
• Kai Havertz (Germany) – Bayer Leverkusen
• Kang-in Lee (South Korea) – Valencia
• Matthew Guendouzi (France) – Arsenal
• Matthijs de Ligt (Holanda) – Ajax / Juventus
• Moses Kean (Italy) – Juventus / Everton
• Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria) – Villarreal
• Vinicius Júnior (Brazil) – Real Madrid

List of candidates for the Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper)

• Alisson Becker (Brazil) – Liverpool
• Others Onana (Cameroon) – Ajax
• Ederson (Brazil) – Manchester City
• Hugo Lloris (France) – Tottenham
• Jan cloud (Slovenia) – Atlético de Madrid
• Kepa Arrizabalaga (Spain) – Chelsea
• Manuel New (Germany) – Bayern Munich
• Marc-André Ter Stegen (Germany) – Barcelona
• Samir Handanovic (Slovenia) – Inter Milan
• Wojciech Szczesny (Poland) – Juventus

Criteria for choosing

• List of nominees is established by the editorial team of France Football;
• International jury of specialized journalists, with one representative per country, chooses five players from the list of 30 available, receiving six points (first place), four, three, two and one in sequence;
• Judges must take into account three criteria: individual and collective presentation, player category and athlete’s career.

• Difference for men is that the previous list is 20 players, instead of 30.

Kopa Trophy (players under 21)

• Prize is awarded by a jury composed exclusively of the Ballon d’Or winners. Each judge appoints three players from a list of ten previously established by France Football;
• Young people selected by the voter receive five, three and one point.

Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper)

• International jury of journalists chooses three players from a list of 10 previously selected players.