Sports
Messi, Ronaldo missing out of nominees for Sports Ballon d’Or for the first time

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have both been left off the list of nominees for this year’s Ballon d’Or award, marking the first time neither star was nominated since 2003.
Record eight-time winner Messi, and his longtime rival Ronaldo, who has five Ballon d’Or to his name, did not feature Wednesday in a list of 30 players in the running for this year’s prize, which will be presented on October 28.
Vinicius Junior, Rodri, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, and Harry Kane are among the names nominated.
Teammates Vinicius and Bellingham helped Real Madrid win La Liga and the club’s 16th Champions League title last season, while Haaland led the Premier League in goals scored and Kane did the same for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.
Recall that earlier this summer, Mbappé finally sealed his expected move to Madrid after spending six seasons at PSG.
Messi, who is working his way back from injury with club side Inter Miami, won the award last year.
The award has gone to Spanish players in each of the past three years, twice to Putellas and last year to Bonmatí.
England, beaten by Spain in the 2023 World Cup final, has three nominees, Lauren Hemp, Lauren James, and Lucy Bronze.
See full list below:
Men’s Ballon d’Or nominees
Jude Bellingham (England and Real Madrid)
Ruben Dias (Portugal and Manchester City)
Phil Foden (England and Manchester City)
Federico Valverde (Uruguay and Real Madrid)
Emiliano Martinez (Argentina and Aston Villa)
Cole Palmer (England and Chelsea)
Erling Haaland (Norway and Manchester City)
Ademola Lookman (Nigeria and Atalanta)
Nico Williams (Spain and Athletic Bilbao)
Granit Xhaka (Switzerland and Bayer Leverkusen)
Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine and Roma)
Toni Kroos (former Germany and Real Madrid)
Vinicius Jr (Brazil and Real Madrid)
Dani Olmo (Spain and Barcelona)
Florian Wirtz (Germany and Bayer Leverkusen)
Martin Odegaard (Norway and Arsenal)
Mats Hummels (Germany, free agent)
Rodri (Spain and Manchester City)
Harry Kane (England and Bayern Munich)
Declan Rice (England and Arsenal)
Vitinha (Portugal and Paris St-Germain)
Dani Carvajal (Spain and Real Madrid)
Lamine Yamal (Spain and Barcelona)
Bukayo Saka (England and Arsenal)
Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey and Inter Milan)
William Saliba (France and Arsenal)
Kylian Mbappe (France and Real Madrid)
Lautaro Martinez (Argentina and Inter Milan)
Antonio Rudiger (Germany and Real Madrid)
Alejandro Grimaldo (Spain and Bayer Leverkusen)
Women’s Ballon d’Or nominees
Aitana Bonmati (Spain and Barcelona)
Barbra Banda (Zambia and Orlando Pride)
Tarciane (Brazil and Houston Dash)
Lauren Hemp (England and Manchester City)
Trinity Rodman (United States and Washington Spirit)
Ada Hegerberg (Norway and Lyon)
Manuela Giugliano (Italy and Roma)
Mallory Swanson (United States and Chicago Red Stars)
Glodis Viggosdottir (Iceland and Bayern Munich)
Mariona Caldentey (Spain and Arsenal)
Lauren James (England and Chelsea)
Lea Schuller (Germany and Bayern Munich)
Patricia Guijarro (Spain and Barcelona)
Gabi Portilho (Brazil and Corinthians)
Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi and Lyon)
Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway and Barcelona)
Lindsey Horan (United States and Lyon)
Sjoeke Nusken (Germany and Chelsea)
Yui Hasegawa (Japan and Manchester City)
Lucy Bronze (England and Chelsea)
Salma Paralluelo (Spain and Barcelona)
Giulia Gwinn (Germany and Bayern Munich)
Khadija Shaw (Jamaica and Manchester City)
Grace Geyoro (France and Paris St-Germain)
Alexia Putellas (Spain and Barcelona)
Sophia Smith (United States and Portland Thorns)
Ewa Pajor (Poland and Barcelona)
Alyssa Naeher (United States and Chicago Red Stars)
Mayra Ramirez (Colombia and Chelsea)
Marie-Antoinette Katoto (France and Paris St-Germain)
Kopa Trophy nominees
Pau Cubarsi – (Spain and Barcelona)
Alejandro Garnacho – (Argentina and Manchester United)
Lamine Yamal – (Spain and Barcelona)
Arda Guler – (Turkey and Real Madrid)
Karim Konate – (Cote d’Ivoire and Salzburg)
Kobbie Mainoo – (England and Manchester United)
Joao Neyes – (Portugal and PSG)
Savinho Oliveira – (Brazil and Manchester City)
Mathys Tel – (France and Bayern Munich)
Warren Zaire-Emery – (France and PSG)
Sports
Chelsea Win Women’s FA Cup To Complete Domestic Treble

Chelsea beat Manchester United 3-0 in the Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley on Sunday to complete an English domestic treble in French coach Sonia Bompastor’s first season in charge.
Sandy Baltimore scored twice, either side of setting up Catarina Macario for the west London side’s second.
France international Baltimore opened the scoring from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time before Macario headed in her free-kick to put the result beyond doubt in the 84th minute.
Baltimore then wrapped up the scoring against United, last season’s FA Cup winners, in the first minute of added-on time when she turned Lisa Naalsund before lashing the ball home from close range.
‘Invincibles’ Chelsea had already been crowned English champions, becoming the first team to remain unbeaten in a 22-game Women’s Super League season as they won their sixth successive domestic league title after previously lifting the League Cup.
Chelsea’s English defender #04 Millie Bright lifts the trophy as Chelsea’s players celebrate on the pitch after the English Women’s FA Cup final football match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, in north west London, on May 18, 2025. Chelsea won the game 3-0.
“It tops off a brilliant season,” Chelsea’s Erin Cuthbert, the player of the match, told the BBC.
“I’m so proud of the group. A lot of hard work’s gone into this. To win in the fashion we did, we were holding on a bit at 1-0 but the second goal puts the game to bed.”
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Reflecting on how the side had adapted to Bompastor’s methods, she added: “There’s a lot of change but you just have to embrace it.
“She’s a manager, she’s a winner, as management and as a player, so you’ve got to respect that. She’s done a brilliant job since she’s come in. And a treble, what a way to start it!”
Bompastor took over at Chelsea after long-serving and successful manager Emma Hayes left to become the United States’ national women’s team manager.
But their hopes of a quadruple were scuppered when they lost 8-2 on aggregate to Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League — a tournament they’ve yet to win for all their domestic triumphs.
At Wembley, in a crowd of over 74,000 featuring new Chelsea women’s team investor Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian — as well his tennis champion wife Serena Williams — the Blues dominated the first half but were kept waiting for an opening goal.
Chelsea’s players celebrate on the pitch after the English Women’s FA Cup final football match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, in north west London, on May 18, 2025. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
It looked as if United would go into the break with the game still goalless but poor defending from Celin Bizet saw her step into Cuthbert and bring the Scotland midfielder down, with referee Stacey Fullicks wasting no time in awarding a penalty.
Baltimore, despite the massed ranks of United fans behind the goal trying to distract her and some mind games from Phallon Tullis-Joyce, coolly sent the United goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot.
An improved United had their chances to equalise early in the second half and even the introduction of England star Ella Toone off the bench could not bring the Cup holders a goal.
And any hopes of a United fight back were dashed by Macario and Baltimore’s late goals.
AFP
Sports
Just in: Arsenal pumel Newcastle 1-0 at Emirates

By Emmanuel Agaji
Arsenal pummeled hard fighting Newcastle 1-0 at the Emirates stadium on Sunday.
The first half ended in a draw but at the 69th minute , Declan Rice hammered in a volley that made it 1-0.
Towards the end, Newcastle mounted pressure on Arsenal but the Arteta boys held tight till the final whistle.
Sports
Just in: Nigeria’s Favour Ofili breaks 150-metre world record

Nigerian sprint sensation, Favour Ofili, delivered a historic performance at the 2025 Adidas Atlanta City Games on Saturday, breaking the world record in the women’s 150m with a sensational time of 15.85s (2.0m/s) at Piedmont Park in Atlanta.
The 22-year-old became the first woman in history to run the event in under 16 seconds, shattering the previous mark of 16.23s set by Bahamian Olympic champion, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, in 2018.
Ofili’s run headlined an impressive showing for Nigerians at the high-profile street meet, which featured top global athletes in a fan-friendly, open-air environment.
World record holder and 100m hurdles star, Tobi Amusan clocked 12.53s to finish second in her heat behind American Keni Harrison (12.44s), qualifying for the final later in the day.
Amusan, who previously ran 12.74s and 12.66s in Xiamen and Keqiao, respectively, is building momentum ahead of the summer championships.
Sprinter Udodi Onwuzurike also impressed, running a season’s best of 10.20 seconds to finish second in his 100m heat behind South Africa’s Akani Simbine, who won in 10.13s.
Onwuzurike’s performance was enough to earn a spot in the final and marks a strong return to form in his 2025 campaign.
The Adidas Atlanta City Games is a unique street-style athletics event held outside traditional stadium settings, bringing athletes and fans closer in an electric atmosphere.
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