The Ballon d'Or list, which includes the best football players in the world, was published by France Football on Friday, August 12. Messi, who took home the trophy last year, has been off the list since 2018, despite being a crucial role in nominations since 2006 and a consistent presence in the top three since that year. Due to his move from Barcelona to Paris, the 35-year-old player will not get the prize in 2022.

Messi has paid a heavy price for the format change since he didn't perform well and the Ballon d'Or didn't recognise him as the greatest player of the year as a result.

The season's record, "the individual performances," and the "decisive and remarkable nature" of the nominees are among the factors used to choose the players for the list. Messi was unable to do miracles for the PSG club after leaving Barcelona in the summer of 2021. The defending French champions lost to Real Madrid in the round of 16. The Ballon d'Or, which will be presented on October 17 in Paris, organisers, France Football magazine, were unimpressed with Messi's club form, which included only 11 goals for PSG overall.

Neymar, a PSG teammate who scored 13 goals in 28 games this season, has also been banned. Karim Benzema, a French international striker who was largely responsible for Real Madrid's 14th Champions League championship, is still included on the list. His goal total for the European season was 15.
Most likely, Benzema will win the prize and join Raymond Kopa (1958), Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985), Jean-Pierre Papin (1991), and Zinedine Zidane as the fifth French winner (1998). Benzema led Madrid, which also won the Liga, with 44 goals in 46 appearances in the 2021–2022 season. With his Wednesday goal against Eintracht Frankfurt in the European Super Cup, he moved ahead of Raul on the club's all-time scoring chart with 324 goals for the Spanish giants. Now, only Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 450, is ahead of him. He is eligible to win the Ballon d'Or. Is there a question? Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of Real, remarked, "Not for me.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner from Manchester United, Ronaldo, is nominated this year despite Messi missing the list. Benzema's colleagues Thibaut Courtois, Casemiro, 2018 winner Luka Modric, Vinicius, and ex-Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger are among the other footballers that made the list.The most players from any club—seven—have been nominated for this list from Liverpool. The list includes Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Fabinho, Sadio Mane, who is now a Bayern Munich player, Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, and Virgil Van Dijk. Some well-known athletes are on the 20-person women's Ballon d'Or list. One of the three players on England's Euro-winning team and 2019 runner-up Lucy Bronze has been included on the shortlist for the women's award. Along with her, the list includes Millie Bright and Arsenal forward Beth Mead, who took home the Golden Boot at the women's Euro.

Selma Bacha, Kadidiatou Diani, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, and Wendie Renard are France's four nominees. The current winner Alexia Putellas, who was forced to withdraw from the Euros due to an injury, and the inaugural winner of the award in 2018 Ada Hegerberg from Norway are also contenders.