❌ Left out of the Ballon d'Or: who deserved a spot among the 30 finalists 🤯 | OneFootball

The list of 30 candidates for the Ballon d'Or has been officially announced (here is the list) and as always, the list of those excluded has sparked debate.

Watch all of Napoli's friendlies LIVE on OneFootball! Click here from the app to purchase Napoli-Girona.

*This list does not include important players who, however, had a year below expectations.

The two PSG exclusions: Marquinhos and Barcola

As many as 9 players out of the 30 finalists are from PSG, but this list is missing its captain: Marquinhos.

Pivot of the defense and the one who lifted the Cup in the sky of Monaco, a very strange absence considering that Marquinhos missed only one Champions League match: the first leg of the quarterfinals against Aston Villa.

The exclusion of Barcola is also significant: 3 goals in the Champions League, 14 in the league (with 11 assists) and a brace in the French Cup final against Stade Reims.

The forwards: Isak and Julian Alvarez

Two forwards who did very well during the last season: Isak and Julian Alvarez led the seasons of Newcastle and Atletico Madrid.

Isak scored 27 goals this season, finished 2nd in the Premier League top scorers' list (better than Haaland) and established himself among the best in his role. For this reason, Newcastle has already rejected around 140M euros for him: a value not enough to enter the Ballon d'Or list.

Julian Alvarez in his first year at Atletico Madrid immediately established himself: 7 goals in the Champions League in 10 games, 5 in the Copa del Rey and 17 in the league. His absence from this list can only be justified by the double touch during the disallowed penalty in the round of 16 against Real Madrid (an event that led to a change in the rules).

The workers: Kimmich, Valverde, TAA and Caicedo

Federico Valverde, despite Real Madrid's non-positive season, has always delivered monstrous performances, scoring 6 goals in the league while missing the net in the Champions League. Valverde, however, cannot be excluded from the list of the best players of the last season.

At the same time, Joshua Kimmich had his usual season of intelligence, substance, and assist production: there were more than 10 winning passes in his season. The return to victory in the Bundesliga was not enough, probably paying for Bayern's elimination in the Champions League against Inter.

Alexander-Arnold was the starting full-back and one of the key men of the team that won the Premier League: he scored 3 goals and made more assists than last year. Not surprisingly, Real Madrid bought him after a long courtship.

The rebirth of Chelsea, who won the Conference League and the Club World Cup, passes - first and foremost - from the mind of Enzo Maresca and immediately after from the performances of Caicedo. His season is difficult to quantify with numbers (6 assists and 2 goals) but the performances would have deserved more recognition, also considering the presence in the ranking of a still excellent Declan Rice.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 Justin Setterfield - 2025 Getty Images