Super Falcons striker Asisat Oshoala has been nominated for the 2022 women’s Ballon d’Or following her stellar season with Barcelona Femini in the Spanish League.
The 20-woman list was announced on Friday.
The 27-year-old Nigerian won the golden boot in the Spanish Primera Division, despite missing three months of the season due to recurring injuries.
Oshoala scored 20 goals in just 19 games to share the top scorer award with Geyse Ferreira who played for Madrid CFF last season but is now a teammate of Oshoala.
Other nominees for the women’s Ballon d’Or include Chelsea’s Mille Bright, Alex Morgan of the USA, and the France quartet of Selma Bacha, Kadidiatou Diani, Wendie Renard, and Marie Katoto.
In the men’s category, Lionel Messi was left out of the Ballon d’Or 30-man shortlist for the first time since 2005.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema lead the list alongside Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
FULL LIST
Men’s nominees
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Karim Benzema
Joao Cancelo
Casemiro
Thibaut Courtois
Cristiano Ronaldo
Kevin De Bruyne
Luis Diaz
Fabinho
Phil Foden
Erling Haaland
Sébastien Haller
Harry Kane
Joshua Kimmich
Rafael Leao
Robert Lewandowski
Riyad Mahrez
Mike Maignan
Sadio Mané
Kylian Mbappé
Luka Modric
Christopher Nkunku
Darwin Nuñez
Antonio Rüdiger
Mohamed Salah
Bernardo Silva
Son Heung-min
Virgil van Dijk
Vinicius Junior
Dusan Vlahovic
Women’s nominees
Mille Bright
Alex Morgan
Selma Bacha
Kadidiatou Diani
Wendie Renard
Marie Katoto.
Vivianne Miedema
Lucy Bronze
Sam Kerr
Alexandra Popp
Aitana Bonmati
Wendie Renard
Trinity Rodman
Fridolina Rolfö
Christiane Endler
Lena Oberdorf
Catarina Macario
Alexia Putellas
Asisat Oshoala
The winners of both categories will be announced on October 17.