Ademola Lookman, a forward for the Super Eagles of Nigeria, is a nominee for the Ballon d’Or for men in 2024.
The 26-year-old Italian player from Atalanta was included on the shortlist for the award along with 29 other players in the announcement made by France Football Magazine on Wednesday.
On the list, he is the lone player from Africa.
Both five-time champion Cristiano Ronaldo and eight-time winner Lionel Messi are not included in the running for this year’s award.
He scored scored 17 goals and made 11 assists in all for Atalanta last season.
The former Everton player was also instrumental in the Super Eagles run to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire early this year.
He scored two goals as the Nigerian team finished as runners up in the competition after losing 2-1 to the hosts in the final.
This year’s Ballon d’Or list is dominated by players from the Spanish national team which won the Euro 2024 in the summer and the Real Madrid team that won the UEFA Champions League.
See Men’s list of nominees
Jude Bellingham
Hakan Çalhanoğlu
Dani Carvajal
Martin Ødegaard
Dani Olmo
Cole Palmer
Rúben Dias
Declan Rice
Artem Dovbyk
Rodri
Phil Foden
Antonio Rüdiger
Alejandro Grimaldo
Bukayo Saka
Erling Haaland
William Saliba
Mats Hummels
Federico Valverde
Harry Kane
Vinícius Jr.
Toni Kroos
Vitinha
Ademola Lookman
Nico Williams
Emiliano Martínez
Florian Wirtz
Lautaro Martínez
Kylian Mbappé
Granit Xhaka
Lamine Yamal
