Nigerians With Ballon D’or Nominations
Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen was on Wednesday listed among 2023 Ballon d’Or nominees.
The Napoli forward made the list alongside 29 other stars including Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, and Kylian Mbappe.
Osimhen’s nomination is coming on the heels of a successful 2022/2023 season where he helped Napoli to their first Scudetto title in three decades.
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In addition to scoring 26 Serie A goals, Osimhen notched 5 more goals for the Partenopei in the UEFA Champions League.
He also bagged 7 goals for the Super Eagles in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers in the process.
Before Osimhen, several other Nigerian stars had earned nominations for football’s most coveted individual prize.
Nigerians who were nominated for Ballon d’Or
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Finidi George
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Victor Ikpeba
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Daniel Amokachi
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Jay-Jay Okocha
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Sunday Oliseh
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Kanu Nwankwo
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Victor Osimhen
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Asisat Oshaola
1. Finidi George
What Year Was Finidi George Nominated For The Ballon d’Or?
The former Super Eagles and Ajax midfielder was nominated for the Ballon d’Or in 1995.
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Finidi was nominated alongside Africa’s and only winner of the prize, George Weah.
He received a total of 6 votes following an undeniable run with Ajax as he won a total of five titles with the Dutch side, including the UEFA Champions League.
2. Daniel Amokachi
What Year Was Daniel Amokachi Nominated For The Ballon d’Or?
Amokachi was part of the Dream Team that won the Olympics gold in Atlanta in 1996.
He was nominated for the Ballon d’Or in 1995 after playing a crucial role for the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Everton in the English Premier League.
3. Kanu Nwankwo
What Year Was Nwankwo Kanu Nominated For The Ballon d’Or?
Kanu is revered as one of the most successful Nigerian footballers ever.
To date, he has the highest Ballon d’Or, ranking for a Nigerian following his nomination in 1996.
Kanu finished in 11th place and above players like Raul and Didier Deschamps in the ranking with 16 votes after achieving massive success with Ajax.
He was again nominated for the award in 1999 and received two votes that year.
4. Jay-Jay Okocha
What Year Was Jay-Jay Okocha Nominated For The Ballon d’Or?
Jay-Jay Okocha earned Ballon D’or nominations in 1995 and 1999 but was never ranked after scoring 0 votes from the voting committee.
His nominations were preceded by fine performances following Eintracht Frankfurt and the Super Eagles’ success at the African Cup Of Nations and the Olympics.
5. Sunday Oliseh
What Year Was Sunday Oliseh Nominated For The Ballon d’Or?
Sunday Oliseh was nominated in 1998 for the Ballon d’Or following his decisive strike against Spain at the World Cup.
He was also influential in Ajax’s title win of the Double Dutch in 1998 as well.
6. Victor Ikpeba
What Year Was Victor Ikpeba Nominated For The Ballon d’Or?
Ikpeba was nominated for the coveted award in 1997 after a sublime season with AS Monaco.
The Prince of Monaco received two votes from the voting committee was also won the African Player of the Year in the same year.
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7. Victor Osimhen
What Year Was Victor Osimhen Nominated For The Ballon d’Or?
Osimhen was nominated for the Ballon d’Or in 2023 after guiding Napoli to the Serie A title.
The Super Eagles striker scored 26 league goals and bagged in five more in the UEFA Champions League.
8. Asisat Oshoala
What Year Was Asisat Oshoala Nominated For The Ballon d’Or?
Oshoala earned Ballon D’or nominations in two successive seasons after becoming the first African woman to be nominated.
The Super Falcons striker earned her first nomination in the 2021/2022 season and followed it up with another nomination for the 2022/2023 season.
Oshoala won the Champions League with her side and was also part of the Nigerian team that crashed out in the round of 16 at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand last month.
She was instrumental in Barcelona’s Primera Division triumph last term and featured as they clinched the Supercopa de Espana Femenina to complete a historic treble.
She also scored 21 league goals in 28 games last term.
