Milan George Weah is the only African recipient who have in history won the most prestigious award in the world of football, Ballon D’or.
Mohamed Salah who is an Egyptian has had a good goal scoring record with Liverpool even winning the EPL golden boat in the last season. Salah also derived Liverpool to EUFA champions league finals although they lost to Real Madrid.
He has had a fantastic football experience even helping his team Egypt to sail through to the world cup , which they were knocked out in the group stage.
Salah if selected will be the second African to ever win the award. Although the list of nominees is full of rich names in the football arena right now.
Fifa best player of the year Luka Modric remains on track for a second major award after he was named Monday among 30 nominees for the Ballon D’or alongside the likes of ex-Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.
Modric, a World Cup runner-up with Croatia, beat Juventus’ Ronaldo and Salah to win the Fifa prize last month after Messi was surprisingly left off the final three-man list.
Ronaldo, currently facing allegations of rape dating back to 2009 that he strenuously denies, has already won the Ballon D’or five times and is the current holder of the award. Messi has also won the award on five occasions.
Fifa split from the Ballon D’or in 2016 to launch its own set of awards. The winner of the prestigious Ballon D’or organised by France Football magazine will be announced on December 3.
Real Madrid and Wales forward Gareth Bale and Manchester City’s Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne also featured in a list full of familiar names in football.
Bale, who scored two goals in Real’s triumph in the final of the Champions League against Liverpool including a spectacular overhead kick, is joined by club teammates Karim Benzema, Raphael Varane, Isco, Marcelo and Sergio Ramos.
De Bruyne was nominated for helping City win the Premier League and Belgium reach the World Cup semi-finals.
Eden Hazard gives Chelsea another player in the running after starring alongside De Bruyne at the World Cup, with England’s Golden Boot winner Harry Kane also included.
World Cup winner with France and Europa League champion at Atletico Madrid,Antoine Griezmann is nominated alongside international teammates, Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante, Manchester United’s Paul Pogba and PSG’s Kylian Mbappe.
Four goalkeepers are also among the 30 — Thibaut Courtois of Belgium and Real Madrid, Liverpool and Brazil stopper Alisson Becker, Tottenham’s France World Cup winner Hugo Lloris and Atletico’s Jan Oblak.
For the first time, a Ballon D’or for women players will be awarded this year, with Champions League winners Lyon accounting for seven of the 15 nominees.Another first, the best under-21 player will receive the Kopa Trophy. Kylian Mbappe, the Paris Saint-Germain striker who burst onto the global scene with his performances as France won the World Cup, is the favorite.
The Ballon D’or, which was first won by Englishman Stanley Matthews in 1956, is decided by a ballot of journalists from around the world. The question remains will Mohamed Salah bring this award home, let’s wait and see.