There are few athletes whose names have become so synonymous with the Ballon d'Or as Lionel Messi, the Argentine maestro who has won the most prestigious individual honor in football seven times – more than any other player in history.

Week in, week out, Messi conjures up extraordinary tricks on the pitch and makes them routine. He broke records nobody ever imagined. His incredible genius uplifts fans across the world. It's no wonder eyebrows were raised when France Football released their 30-man shortlist for the men's Ballon d'Or on Friday night and Messi did not make the cut.

The last time Messi was not nominated for the Ballon d'Or was in 2005 when he was just promoted to the first team as a callow teenager. 

The 35-year-old, who won the award last year, endured a difficult debut season at Paris Saint-Germain after leaving his boyhood club Barcelona. He still managed to notch 11 goals and 15 assists in all competitions, helping PSG clinch their 10th Ligue 1 title.

It would be a marvelous achievement for any footballer to be directly involved in 26 goals in a season, but not for Messi. A relentless goal machine, he has scored at least 30 goals for 13 consecutive years. The 2021/22 campaign witnessed Messi's lowest single season goal tally since 2005. Messi has, to some extend, become the victim of his own extraordinarily high standards.

Though Messi is omitted from the shortlist, his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo is surprisingly included as the only Manchester United representative. 

Ronaldo returned to the English giants from Juventus last summer and scored 18 league goals. But the 37-year-old was unable to help his team qualify for the Champions League as United finished with their lowest ever Premier League points tally, having accumulated just 58 from 38 league matches.

The Portuguese talisman, who has openly stated his desire to leave United this summer for Champions League football, was benched for their season opener against Brighton last weekend, and could not prevent his side suffering a humiliating 2-1 defeat at home despite coming on as a substitute in the second half.

In sharp contrast, Ronaldo's former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema unsurprisingly made this year's shortlist and is the overwhelming favorite to win his first ever Ballon d'Or. 

The French striker's 44 goals powered Madrid to win both La Liga and Champions League last season. The 34-year-old also scored in last week's UEFA Super Cup final, guiding the Spanish behemoth to be crowned the Kings of Europe. It was Benzema's 324th goal for Los Blancos and he is now Madrid's second all-time top scorer, only behind Ronaldo who has 450.

"Benzema is a leader," declared Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after the Super Cup victory. "If we're here, it's partly because of him. He scored a lot of goals. Now for the Ballon d'Or... Are there any doubts? I don't think anyone has doubts about that."

"For us he's the most important player, he's the most efficient player in the world in this moment," Ancelotti added. "He was important to win the Champions League... He scored against [Manchester] City, against Chelsea, against Paris [Saint-Germain]. He's so important for us, there's no doubt that at this moment he's the best."

Messi also praised Benzema, who has spent the last 13 seasons with Madrid. "It's very clear that Benzema had a spectacular year. He was fundamental in all the matches from the round of 16 onwards," said Messi during an interview with an Argentine television back in May. "I think there is no doubt [who will win] this year."

While Robert Lewandowski, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe also make the 30-strong line-up, Benzema going home empty handed would be an even bigger surprise than Messi not being nominated.

The accolade for the best footballer in the world in 2022 will be presented on October 17. 

2022 Men's Ballon d'Or nominees

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool, England), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France), Joao Cancelo (Manchester City, Portugal), Casemiro (Real Madrid, Brazil), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, Belgium), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium), Luis Diaz (Liverpool, Colombia), Fabinho (Liverpool, Brazil), Phil Foden (Manchester City, England), Erling Haaland (Manchester City, Norway), Sebastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund, Cote d'Ivoire), Harry Kane (Tottenham, England), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich, Germany), Rafael Leao (AC Milan, Portugal), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona, Poland), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City, Algeria), Mike Maignan (AC Milan, France), Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain, France), Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich, Senegal), Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia), Darwin Nunez (Liverpool, Uruguay), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig, France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid, Germany), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, Portugal), Son Heung-min (Tottenham, South Korea), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool, Netherlands), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid, Brazil), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus, Serbia).