Ballon d'Or nominees: Messi misses out, Benzema and Ronaldo in, three Lionesses make cut

The name of seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi was left off the 30-man list for this year's coveted football award.

Lucy Bronze, who was runner-up in 2019, is one of three members of England's Euro-winning squad to be short-listed for the women's prize.

Despite winning the Ligue 1 title in his first season at Paris Saint-Germain, Messi endured a largely underwhelming season in France after switching from Barcelona last summer.

The Argentina forward, 35, had been an ever-present amongst the nominations since 2006 and a regular feature in the top three since 2007 with the exception of 2018.

A change in the format has also worked against Messi with the Ballon d'Or no longer acknowledging the best player over a calendar year.

Instead, it is based on a season's record highlighting "the individual performances" and the "decisive and impressive character" of the nominees, according to the criteria.

After leaving Barcelona in the summer of 2021, Messi was unable to stamp his genius on a PSG team desperate for a Champions League title.

The French champions suffered a last-16 exit at the hands of eventual winners Real Madrid despite holding a 2-0 aggregate lead with less than half-hour left in the tie.

Messi's tally of 11 goals for PSG was his lowest since the 2005/06 season, while his relatively indifferent club form failed to impress France Football magazine, the organisers of the Ballon d'Or which will be awarded in Paris on October 17.

PSG teammate Neymar also misses out after a season where he scored 13 goals in 28 matches.

Ferland Mendy, Eduardo Camavinga, Karim Benzema and Aurelien Tchouameni of Real Madrid pose for a photograph with the Uefa Super Cup trophy after a 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at Helsinki