France Football have unveiled their 30 candidates for the 2019 Ballon d’Or award.
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk lead the 30 nominees for the 2019 Ballon d’Or as they contest the crown of best player in the world.
The most coveted individual prize in football is up for grabs with Virgil van Dijk, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo among the favourites.
Luka Modric was the winner last year to become the first person in a decade other than Messi and Ronaldo to be recognised as the world’s best player by France Football.
As many as six Liverpool players are included in the list while PSG star Neymar has been completely omitted from the 30-man shortlist.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk have all been shortlisted for this year’s Ballon d’Or prize, as France Football announced its 30-man shortlist on Monday night.
Mane and Van Dijk were among seven Liverpool players to be named and were joined by Premier League counterparts Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among others.
Mane, Salah and Van Dijk’s Liverpool team-mates Roberto Firmino, Alisson, Georginio Wijnaldum and Trent Alexander-Arnold were also included for their involvement in Liverpool’s sixth Champions League triumph.
So the 30 nominated male players are, in full:
- Mohammad Salah (Liverpool)
- Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
- Marquinhos (PSG)
- Raheem Sterling (Man City)
- Joao Felix (Portugal)
- Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
- Riyad Mahrez (Man City)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
- Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
- Antoine Griezzmann (Barcelona)
- Sergio Aguero (Man City)
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
- Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
- Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
- Matthjis de Ligt (Juevntus)
- Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
- Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
- Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
- Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
- Bernardo Silva (Man City)
- Heung-min Son (Tottenham)
- Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
- Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona)
- Donny van de Beek (Ajax)
- Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
- Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)
When is the 2019 Ballon d’Or?
The ceremony is set to take place on December 2 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.
When is the shortlist revealed?
France Football will announce a 30-man shortlist later today. It is expected to come after 5pm BST.
