Ballon d'Or 2023: Who's nominated for football's best player award?

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The nominations for this year's men's and women's Ballon d'Or awards have been revealed and there's plenty of top stars in the running!

The Ballon d'Or means Golden Ball and is an award for the best men's and women's footballers out there.

For the men's award, nearly half of the shortlist is made up of Premier League players, including Manchester City's Erling Haaland, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard and Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah.

Lionel Messi has also been nominated and is the favourite to scoop the award for a record eighth time, after winning the World Cup with Argentina last year.

Meanwhile, four Lionesses - Millie Bright, Rachel Daly, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway - are among the nominees for the women's Ballon d'Or.

Ballon d'Or Men's Award

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Image caption, Lionel Messi has won a record seven Ballon d'Or awards

The Ballon d'Or is an annual event where the famous golden trophy is given to the best footballer of the year.

It is voted for by football journalists from all around the world.

England's Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane also feature in the list for the men's award however five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr, has not been nominated for the first time in twenty years.

Ballon d'Or Women's Award

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Image caption, Millie Bright, Rachel Daly, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway all played for England in the Women's World Cup final

The award for the best female player - officially called the Ballon d'Or F茅minin - was first introduced in 2018.

The shortlist is made up of a number of WSL players including Sam Kerr, Katie McCabe and Hinata Miyazawa, who won the Golden Boot at the recent World Cup after scoring five goals.

Millie Bright, Rachel Daly, Mary Earps and Georgia Stanway are the England players also among the nominees.

Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps won the Golden Glove award at the World Cup after keeping four clean sheets while Aston Villa's Rachel Daly finished top scorer in the WSL last season and was recently named PFA Players' Player of the Year.

After the announcement was made, Daly wrote on social media: "Wow, to be nominated for this award amongst some of the best players in the world is such a phenomenal honour."

The winners will be announced at a special ceremony in the French capital Paris on 30 October.