Nigerian football stars Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala have been nominated for the prestigious 2023 Ballon d’Or award, the annual honor given to the world’s best male and female players.
The nominees were announced on Wednesday, September 6th by French Football, the organizers of the Ballon d’Or. Osimhen and Oshoala join a star-studded shortlist of candidates vying for the top prizes.
On the men’s side, Osimhen will face stiff competition from 30 other global standouts including past winners Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski.
Further challengers are Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne.
For the women’s award, Oshoala hopes to defeat 29 top players such as Women’s World Cup victor Aitana Bonmati.
Both Osimhen and Oshoala aim to become the first Nigerians to ever win the prestigious Ballon d’Or.
The winners will be crowned at the annual ceremony on October 30th at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
All of Nigeria waits eagerly to see if their compatriots will make history and take home the honors.
