Bundesliga News

German football strongly represented in France Football's lists of award candidates

By Peter Weis   @PeterVicey

France Football's initial release of nominees for the 2022 Ballon d'or includes two German internationals, three current Bundesliga players, and two recently departed Bundesligists.

German national team keepers Kevin Trapp and Manuel Neuer have also been nominated for the Trophée Yachine, which honors the world's best goalkeeper.

Three German internationalists and, in total, six active Bundesliga players are among the ten finalists vying to be recognized as the world's best young player with the Trophée Kopa.
The Ballon d'or
The Ballon d'orAnk Kumar CC-BY-SA 4.0
It will actually be impossible for former Bayern München striker Robert Lewandowski to controversially lose out on the Ballon d'or to Lionel Messi this year. The current FC Barcelona attacker won't have to compete with Messi at all. For the first time in 17 years, the Argentine legend hasn't even been nominated at all.


Lewandowski, along with former Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, will be competing instead in a field of 30 shor- list candidates released by France Football on Friday evening. Karim Benzema serves was the early favorite to take the prize.

Bayern's Joshua Kimmich and Chelsea's Antonio Rüdiger are the the two German internationals who made the initial cut. Kimmich's inclusion The full list of 30 players nominated features actors relevant to German football in bold type up top:

The Ballon d'or:

Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund/Manchester City)
Sebastien Haller (Ajax/Borussia Dortmund)
Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/FC Barcelona)
Sadio Mané (Liverpool FC/Bayern Munich)
Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea FC/Real Madrid)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool FC)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Joao Cancelo (Manchester City)
Casemiro (Real Madrid)
Thibaut Coutois (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Luis Diaz (FC Porto/FC Liverpool)
Fabinho (Liverpool FC)
Phil Forden (Manchester City)
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Rafael Leao (AC Milan)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
Kylian Mbappé (PSG)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Darwin Nunez (Benfica/ Liverpool FC)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Heung-min Son (Tottenham)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool FC)
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina/Juventus)

Of the ten players nominated for the French magazine's best goalkeeper honor, the immortal Manuel Neuer and Europa League hero Kevin Trapp receive the chance to bring glory home to the Bundesrepublik. The field is certainly nevertheless a tough one.


The Trophée Yachine:

Manuel Neuer (Bayern München)
Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Yassine Bounou (Sevilla FC)
Alisson Becker (Liverpool FC)
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
Ederson (Manchester City)
Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
Edouard Mendy (Chelsea FC)
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
Jan Oblak (Atletico)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)

It looks to be the case that award for best young player will likely belong to either a German Bundesliga representative or one of three other players nominated for the award. German football attained massive representation, with six of the ten nominees serving in the country's top footballing flight.

The Trophée Kopa:

Jamal Musiala (FC Bayern München)
Ryan Gravenberch (FC Bayern München)
Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund)
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig)
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid)
"Gavi" (FC Barcelona)
Nuno Mendes (PSG)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

The awards will be presented on October 17th.


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