Barcelona trio make Ballon d’Or shortlist as Raphinha and Pedri miss out | OneFootball

After a couple of difficult years in the post-Messi era, Hansi Flick has once again brought FC Barcelona to the very summit of European football. The German coach has led his team to dominate almost all the competitions in Spain, and now the UEFA Champions League remains one of the titles that he would be looking forward to winning.

With this success enjoyed in the last two years, the chances of a Barcelona player winning the Ballon d’Or have also increased. Lamine Yamal came very close to getting the award last year, but ultimately, it was the former Blaugrana forward Ousmane Dembele who got that recognition.

Both of these players will once again be contending for this award this year. As Mundo Deportivo has reported, Yamal is one of the players who have made the 30-man list for this year’s Ballon d’Or. Pau Cubarsi and Rodri Hernandez are two other Barcelona players on this list.

All three of these players had an incredible last year. Yamal and Cubarsi won La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona, while Rodri won the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup with Manchester City. All three of these players then also won the World Cup 2026 with Spain.

However, Blaugrana fans would not really be happy seeing some other players from their team not making the list. The most notable absences are Raphinha and Pedri, who also had a great year, and were clearly among the best players in Europe. Last year, the Brazilian stood fifth in the rankings, while the Canarian was 11th, but neither has made it to the top 30 this year.

Among former Barcelona players, Lionel Messi will once again be vying for the award, and looking to take his tally to nine. Ousmane Dembele, who is the current Ballon d’Or holder, is also again in the list, as is Ferran Torres, who moved to PSG this summer.