By Chidinma Iwuoha

Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman has been ranked number 14 in the 2023 Ballon d’Or award held in Paris, France.

The Atalanta forward narrowly missed out in joining Victor Osimhen to become the only Nigerians to have made the top 10 in the Ballon d’Or award. Osimhen was ranked in the 8th position last year.

Lookman is however the only African player that made the award nomination list this year.

Ranked at the 14th place for the 2024 Men’s Ballon d’Or! @Alookman_ @Atalanta_BC @thenff #ballondor pic.twitter.com/G1cXMd1jT8

Lookman was in scintillating form as Atalanta won its first-ever European trophy last season, with the Nigerian scoring a hat-trick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen.

He scored scored 17 goals and made 11 assists in all for Atalanta last season.

The former Everton player was also instrumental in the Super Eagles run to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire early this year.

He scored two goals as the Nigerian team finished as runners up in the competition after losing 2-1 to the hosts in the final.

In the new season, Lookman has picked up from where he stopped last season, recording 5 goals, 3 assists so far. One of the goals is for Nigeria against Benin Republic in Africa Cup of Nation’s qualifier.

Lookman has also been shortlisted by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the 2024 African Footballer of the Year award.

This year’s Ballon d’Or list is dominated by players from the Spanish national team which won the Euro 2024 in the summer and the Real Madrid team that won the UEFA Champions League.