Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak was surprisingly not included in FIFA’s shortlist for the Ballon d’Or award despite his sensational season with the Magpies.
Despite what has been happening off the pitch over the last few weeks, there is no denying that Alexander Isak has been Newcastle United’s best player in front of goal, and Champions League qualification may not have happened if he had been elsewhere.
The Swede scored an impressive 27 goals in all competitions last season and received praise from many avenues throughout the campaign. Ally McCoist thinks Isak is the best striker in the Premier League, a statistically true statement, as he was the striker with the most goals in the top flight last term.
His form led many to believe he would be in the running for a Ballon d’Or nomination, but to the surprise of many, Isak was snubbed from the Ballon d’Or list.
It begs the question: who is the last Newcastle player to receive a nomination for the prestigious award?
A close-up shot of the Ballon d'Or ahead of the 2024 ceremony.
Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images
Who was the last Newcastle United player to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or?
It has been a long time since the Magpies had a player represent them on the Ballon d’Or nominations list. In fact, you have to go back 20 years to find the last time a Newcastle player was included.
The last Newcastle player to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or was Michael Owen in 2005. However, his nomination was not really due to his efforts on Tyneside.
Owen joined Newcastle in the summer of 2005 from Real Madrid, where he had just finished a bright season, scoring 13 goals in 36 appearances. The former England international scored 7 goals in 11 appearances for the Magpies in his first season, which seemed to be enough for FIFA to include him in the list of nominees for the award.
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Owen is the only Newcastle player to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or in this century, but the club were represented on a couple of occasions in the 1990s. Newcastle legend Alan Shearer was nominated in 1996 and 1997, while Belgian defender Philippe Albert was given a nomination in 1994.
Has a Newcastle United player ever won the Ballon d’Or?
The Ballon d’Or is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious honours which can be won in football, with any winner being immediately immortalised in the game.
While Newcastle have had nominees, no player has ever won the award while playing for the club.
The closest a Newcastle player has come to winning the award was when Shearer placed third in the voting for the Ballon d’Or in 1996. He missed out on the award to midfielder Matthias Sammer, who played for Borussia Dortmund.
Newcastle may not have had any of their players win the Ballon d’Or, but they have gone on to sign two stars who had won it previously. Legendary player and manager Kevin Keegan won the Ballon d’Or twice while at Hamburg, just a couple of years before joining Newcastle.
Elsewhere, Owen won the Ballon d’Or while at Liverpool in 2001.