Yesterday evening, France Football announced the list of the 30 finalists that are competing for the Ballon D'Or. The prestigious trophy will be awarded to the winner on November 2. Luka Modric was not named among the finalists after winning the award last season, breaking the Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo cycle that began in 2008.
For the first time since 1956, there are no Spanish or Italian players among the finalists. The Netherlands is the most represented country with 5 candidates: Van Dijk, De Ligt, van de Beek, Wijnaldum and de Jong. This is interesting to see, as the Dutch national team had missed out on qualifying for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup.
