France Football editor highlights 3 main reasons why Jamal Musiala failed to make 2024 Ballon d'Or shortlist
France Football editor-in-chief Vincent Garcia has offered an explanation for Jamal Musiala's exclusion from the 2024 Ballon d'Or shortlist. France Football released the list of the 30 men's Ballon d'Or 2024 nominees on September 4. It included players like Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Lamine Yamal among others but not Jamal Musiala.
The German was one of the standout players for Bayern Munich last season, scoring 12 and bagging eight assists in 38 appearances for the Bavarians. He was one of the highest goalscorers in Euro 2024, scoring thrice and spearheading Germany's run till the quarter-finals.
Despite compatriots Toni Kroos, Florian Wirtz, Mats Hummels, and Antonio Rudiger getting selected, Musiala was left out of the list by France Football. For Bayern Munich, only Harry Kane made the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or 2024.
Here is what Vincent Garcia said about the supposed snubbing (as quoted by Tz's Philipp Kessler via @iMiaSanMia):
"The fact that Jamal Musiala is not on the list of 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or does not mean that his talent, which everyone recognizes, is in question. In fact, he was there in 2023 and was also nominated for the Kopa Trophy, which is awarded to the best young player. But like Jude Bellingham, his status has evolved and expectations were probably higher this year. As a result, he was probably assessed differently."
He went on to cite three prime reasons why the German wasn't included in the Ballon d'Or shortlist:
"There are three main reasons why he was not selected by the committee. First, his lack of statistics in the Champions League, where he scored as many goals as Mathys Tel, for example. That’s too little for a player of his caliber.
"He also failed to impress in important matches such as the Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid or the Euros quarter-final against Spain, where his performances were not catastrophic but rather neutral."
"Bayern’s season, which saw them finish in the Bundesliga at their worst since 2011, did not help him either. I’m sure he will return to this list in the future.”
Jamal Musiala wasn't the only prominent exclusion in the Ballon d'Or 2024 shortlist. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi failed to make the top 30 for the first time since 2003. Both didn't make it, presumably because neither plays football in Europe at the moment. Cristiano Ronaldo plays in the Middle East at Al-Nassr while Lionel Messi is stationed at United States' Inter Miami.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo was the highest goalscorer for Al-Nassr last season, racking up 44 goals in 45 games across competitions. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi won his second consecutive Copa America with Argentina.
Bayern Munich executive enraged over Jamal Musiala's exclusion from Ballon d'Or 2024 shortlist
Bayern Munich executive Max Eberl recently expressed his frustration over Jamal Musiala's exclusion from the Ballon d'Or 2024 shortlist.
"I'm happy for every player nominated for the Ballon d'Or, but we at FC Bayern are very surprised that Jamal Musiala is missing from this list," said Eberl in an interview with DPA (via GOAL). "Jamal was one of the outstanding players at the Euros, was voted into the best XI and was one of the tournament's top scorers."
He concluded by raving about the German prodigy and describing his snubbing as "completely incomprehensible." He said:
"FC Bayern reached the semi-finals of the Champions League thanks to Jamal's great performances. The fact that he's not even one of the 30 best players of the last season is completely incomprehensible to us.
"In our eyes, Jamal is one of the most fascinating players in international football with absolutely exceptional, unique abilities. We are very proud of what he's doing for FC Bayern and also for the national team."
Jamal Musiala has had a good start to the 2024-25 campaign, having already scored once in two games for the Bavarians. He is currently with the national team as they begin their Nations League campaign with fixtures against Hungary (September 7) and the Netherlands (September 11).