Lookman Remains Only African In 30-Man Ballon D’Or Shortlist

Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman has remained the only African footballer to be listed in the last 30 of the Ballon D’Or nominees.

Lookman had a tremendous season with Atalanta, leading them to the UEFA Europa League glory after a scintillating performance in the final.

The 26-year old was the man of the match in the final after scoring a glorious hat-trick to lead the charge for Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten run to come to an end.

Bayer Leverkusen had gone unbeaten all season before meeting Lookman’s Atalanta in the final as he won almost all the individual awards for the night including the tournament’s goal of the season.

The former Everton, Leicester and RB Leipzig man led Nigeria to the African cup of nations where they lost to host and eventual winners Côte d’Ivoire in the final.

Lookman led Nigeria to the second placed AFCON finish after scoring three goals with one assist as well as being in the team of the tournament.

He has been listed amongst the 30 best footballers in the world as the final will be decided on October 30.

FULL LIST
◉ Jude Bellingham.
◉ Ruben Dias.
◉ Phil Foden.
◉ Federico Valverde.
◉ Emiliano Martínez.

◉ Erling Haaland
◉ Nico Williams
◉ Granit Xhaka
◉ Artem Dovbyk
◉ Toni Kroos

◉ Vinicius Jr
◉ Dani Olmo
◉ Florian Wirtz
◉ Martin Ødegaard
◉ Mats Hummels

◉ Rodri
◉ Harry Kane
◉ Declan Rice
◉ Vitinha
◉ Cole Palmer

◉ Dani Carvajal
◉ Lamine Yamal
◉ Bukayo Saka
◉ Hakan Calhanoglu
◉ William Saliba

◉ Kylian Mbappé
◉ Lautaro Martínez
◉ Ademola Lookman
◉ Toni Rüdiger
◉ Alejandro Grimaldo