Benzema appears to be the firm favourite for the coveted men's prize, while Kerr could face stiff competition from Arsenal star Beth Mead following England's triumph at the Women's Euros.
SBS On Demand will live stream the full ceremony in Paris on October 18 - the first not to feature seven-time winner Messi since 2005.
Messi's debut season in France failed to produce the form synonymous with his time at Barcelona, with Paris Saint-Germain teammate Neymar also missing out on the 30-man shortlist.
Kylian Mbappe, meanwhile, did make the cut; as did Cristiano Ronaldo and last year's runner-up Robert Lewandowski, who will now rival Benzema in Spain after signing for Madrid's Catalan rivals.
The Ballon d'Or would be the perfect reward for Benzema, who guided Los Blancos to the league and Champions League double last season following 44 goals and 15 assists in 46 games.
Kerr was in a similar vein of form for Women's Super League winners Chelsea, having produced 20 goals and four assists in 22 league outings, before adding a further nine goals to her tally across all other competitions.
Despite the Matildas star's excellence, it appears Mead and fellow England teammates Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright are equally in contention, as is current holder Alexia Putellas.
Ballon d'Or Nominees
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
- Joao Cancelo (Manchester City)
- Casemiro (Real Madrid)
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
- Luis Diaz (Liverpool)
- Fabinho (Liverpool)
- Phil Foden (Manchester City)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
- Sebastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund)
- Harry Kane (Tottenham)
- Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
- Rafael Leao (AC Milan)
- Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
- Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
- Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
- Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich)
- Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
- Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
- Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
- Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
- Heung-Min Son (Tottenham)
- Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
- Vinicius JR (Real Madrid)
- Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus)
Ballon d’Or Feminin Nominees
- Selma Bacha (Lyon)
- Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona)
- Millie Bright (Chelsea)
- Lucy Bronze (Barcelona)
- Kadidiatou Diani (PSG)
- Christiane Endler (Lyon)
- Ada Hegerberg (Lyon)
- Marie-Antoinette Katoto (PSG)
- Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
- Catarina Macario (Lyon)
- Beth Mead (Arsenal)
- Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal)
- Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave)
- Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg)
- Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona)
- Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg)
- Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
- Wendie Renard (Lyon)
- Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit)
- Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona)
