Without Haaland, Euro 2024 could give Ronaldo, Kane and Mbappe an edge in the Ballon d’Or race

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — There will be one notable absence from next year’s European Championships. Erling Haaland.

While Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Romelu Lukaku have the chance to continue their goalscoring records and legacies at Euro 2024, Haaland will likely Norway took a break after failing to qualify for the World Cup in June and July.

This could be good news for Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, giving his star striker a chance to rest after a long season. But it cost Haaland a chance to compete for one of the biggest international prizes, and he also missed last year’s World Cup.

It could also affect his ambitions to win the Ballon d’Or next year and be confirmed as the world’s No. 1 footballer.

International trophies are a key factor in deciding who wins the sport’s highest individual prize.

Except for Messi, who won the World Cup with Argentina last year, the Ballon d’Or is likely to be won by Manchester City’s goal-scoring treble winner of the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. Instead, Haaland had to be content with a runner-up spot after scoring 52 goals in a season.

Messi won the Ballon d’Or for a record eighth time. If he can lead Argentina to victory at next year’s Copa America and win more trophies with Inter Miami in MLS, perhaps he will be in contention for ninth place.

Despite traveling to Saudi Arabia with Al Nasr, Ronaldo has shown no sign of lowering his ambitions on the international stage. He has become the leading scorer in international football with 128 goals.

If selected by Portugal, he would play in his sixth European Cup, where he played a record 25 games in the final and became the top scorer in the tournament’s history with 14 goals.

He will be 39 years old and a member of a Portuguese team that has a perfect 10-10 record in qualifying and will be one of the favorites to win the title.

Even if he plays club football in Saudi Arabia, it would be difficult to surpass Ronaldo for the Ballon d’Or if he wins a second European Cup so late in his storied career.

Kane’s long wait for a trophy may be over by the time the European Cup rolls around following his move to Bayern Munich in the off-season. England’s all-time goalscorer got off to a brilliant start with his new club in Germany, scoring 21 goals in 15 appearances.

With Kane’s scoring performance, Bayern is likely to become one of Manchester City’s main competitors in this year’s Champions League. England finished runners-up at the last European Championship and have been boosted by the increasingly mature Jude Bellingham, with Kane aiming to end England’s wait for a first trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick in France’s 14-0 win over Gibraltar last week, is closing in on Olivier Giroud’s national team record of 56 goals. The Paris Saint-Germain striker has scored 46 goals.

He and Haaland are tipped to succeed Messi and Ronaldo as football’s next global icons, and with France having greater potential to win international honors than Norway, that could give Mbappe an advantage.

Even Lukaku, whose club career has been in a slump over the past two years, is more hopeful than Haaland of winning a big victory for his country.

His goal tally for Belgium continued to improve, scoring 83 goals in 113 games, and he also became the top scorer in the European Cup qualifiers with 14 goals.

Robert Lewandowski is also still a possibility for the World Cup if Poland advances through the playoffs.

If Norway continues to miss out on big tournaments, this issue could plague Haaland throughout his career. His goal-scoring prowess is likely to help him break several records and win a host of trophies with Manchester City.

The Ballon d’Or should be a close second.

But Mbappe, in particular, is expected to be his biggest rival in the coming years and he may often have to watch with envy as the French striker showcases his talents on international football’s greatest stage.

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James Robson is located in https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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