The 2023 Ballon d’Or nominees have been announced

The list of nominees for the 2023 Ballon d’Or has been officially revealed.

Last year, the prestigious award was picked up by Real Madrid and France striker Karim Benzema after he enjoyed a stellar season.

In the last decades and more, the Ballon d'or award has been dominated by both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Argentine has won seven whilst Ronaldo has five. Messi is currently the favourite to clinc an eighth trophy after he led Argentina to 2022 World Cup glory in Qatar.

On Wednesday evening, France Football announced the top 30 nominees for this year’s award.

HERE ARE ALL THE BALLON D'OR NOMINEES! 🌕✨#ballondor pic.twitter.com/hg1ZByzhDV

— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@ballondor) September 6, 2023

 The usual suspects such as Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne and Mohamed Salah are all nominated whilst there were some newer names such as Bukayo Saka, Jamal Musiala and Julian Alvarez.

However, fans have been left unimpressed by the fact that Manchester City defender John Stones failed to make the cut.

One said: “Where is John Stones??? What the hell?”

Another tweeted: “John Stones not being nominated is a crime.”

A third fan added: “How was John Stones not nominated, but Harry Kane was??? ARE WE JUST NO.”

Someone else wrote: “I’m twitching where is John Stones.”

Whilst a fifth commented: “How are you not nominating John Stones the best defender in the world???