South Africa’s Ronwen Williams has been nominated for the Yashin Trophy, while Nigerian and Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman has earned a nomination in the prestigious Men’s Ballon d’Or category.
By Tuka Letura
Five African Football players have made it into the final nominations at this year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony. The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by France Football to the best players in the world, as voted on by international journalists.
South Africa’s Ronwen Williams has been nominated for the Yashin Trophy, while Nigerian and Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman has earned a nomination in the prestigious Men’s Ballon d’Or category. In the Women’s Ballon d’Or category, Inter Milan’s Malawian star Tabitha Chawinga and Zambia’s Barbra Banda, who plays for Chicago Fire, are also in the running for top honours.
Ronwen Williams whose heroics at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in January 2023 saw South Africa not just reach a semi-final, but also pick up Bronze, their first in the Men’s tournament since 2000. Williams kept five clean sheets, a South African and competition record. He also became the first goalkeeper to ever save 4 penalties in a single AFCON shootout, after he prevented four of Cape Verde’s five attempts. Eventually landing him the AFCON golden glove.
AFCON was undoubtedly the standout moment of Williams’ 23/24 season, largely because of its international stage attention, though his performances at Mamelodi Sundowns were equally remarkable. His season was filled with accolades, including winning the SA Premier Soccer League, the African Football League, and was named PSL Footballer of the Season, amongst other individual and team achievements. He now becomes the first goalkeeper in history to be nominated for the Yashin Trophy while playing for a club in Africa.
Tabitha Chawinga is one of two African women nominated for the Women’s Ballon d’Or. She was named in the UEFA Women’s Champions League Team of the Season after reaching the semi-finals with Paris Saint-Germain, scoring five goals and providing one assist.
Chawinga was also the top scorer and top assists provider in the French League with 19 goals and 11 assists from 19 games, which saw her awarded as the UNFP Female Player of the Year 2024. Chawinga who has joined Olympique Lyonnais permanently for the season, is the first Malawian to ever be nominated for the Ballon d’Or.
Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda was also nominated for the Women’s Ballon d’Or. She had a brilliant Olympics campaign with Zambia despite not making it past the group stages. Her hat-trick Australia had her join Domingo Tarasconi (Amsterdam, 1928) as the only other player, man or woman, to have as many as three hat-tricks at the Olympics.
Banda’s four goals at the Olympics took her total tally to 10, with just three players having more in the history of women’s football at the Olympics.
Like Chawinga, Banda is the first Zambian to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or. She has started the season at Orlando as the top scorer in the NWSL so far, with 12 goals and five assists in 14 games.
In the Men’s Ballon d’Or category, Nigerian striker Ademola Lookman who led Atalanta to winning the UEFA Europa League in May is also nominated. He scored three times in the final as Atalanta won their first-ever European trophy.
His hat-trick was the first in 49 years since Jupp Heynckes’ for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1975 UEFA Cup and only the sixth ever in the final of a major UEFA competition.
Lookman and Nigeria also reached the finals of AFCON 2023, with him contributing directly to half of Nigeria’s goals at the tournament with three goals and one assist.
20-year-old RB Salzburg and Ivorian striker Karim Konaté is nominated for the Kopa Trophy, an award presented to the best-performing player worldwide under the age of 21 during a joint ceremony with the Ballon d’Or.
Konaté finished as top scorer in the Austrian Bundesliga in the 2023/24 season, with 20 goals, which was seven better than the next best player, He also ended the season with 22 goal involvement, the highest in the division.
Although he never started any game, Konaté featured on multiple occasions for Ivory Coast during their historic turnaround AFCON title in February. He is the only African nominated among the 10 in this year’s edition.
The 2024 Ballon d’or award ceremony will take place on October 28, 2024.