Virgil van Dijk and Lionel Messi lead the 30-man shortlist for the prestigious Ballon d’Or.
Van Dijk is the favourite to become the first defender since Fabio Cannavaro in 2016 to be awarded the historic Golden Ball with Messi hoping to win a record-breaking sixth title.
They were both amongst the list of 30 names confirmed as nominees on Monday night, with a heavy dose of Liverpool in the star-studded list.
Van Dijk is joined by Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Georginio Wijnaldum as seven members of Jurgen Klopp’s side were recognised after their Champions League success.
Five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo also features for a 16th time, with Kylian Mbappe looking to improve on his fourth placed finish in voting last year.
A host of Premier League stars feature including Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris and Heung-min Son plus Manchester City stars Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez.
Four of Ajax’s Champions League semi-finals side appeared, with youngsters Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs De Ligt, now with Barcelona and Juventus respectively, including alongside Donny van de Beek and Dusan Tadic.
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The Women’s Ballon d’Or shortlist featured England’s World Cup heroes Lucy Bronze and Ellen White as well as American World Cup winners Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe.
Alisson heads the first ever shortlist for the Yachine Trophy for best goalkeeper, with Jadon Sancho featuring on the Kopa Trophy shortlist for players under the age of 21.
Here’s the full list of award nominees and a recap of how the unveiling of the shortlists unfolded.
Men’s Ballon d’Or nominees:
Sadio Mane, Sergio Aguero, Dusan Tadic, Hugo Lloris, Frenkie de Jong, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kylian Mbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Donny van de Beek, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Karim Benzema, Georginio Wijnaldum, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alisson and Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk, Heung-min Son, Robert Lewandowski, Roberto Firmino, Bernardo Silva, Lionel Messi, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin De Bruyne, Kalidou Koulibaly, Antoine Griezmann, Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah, Marquinhos, Joao Felix, Raheem Sterling.
Women’s Ballon d’Or nominees:
Kosovare Asllani, Sarah Bouhaddi, Lucy Bronze, Nilla Fischer, Pernille Harder, Ada Hegerberg, Tobin Heath, Amandine Henry, Sofia Jakobsson, Sam Kerr, Rose Lavelle, Dzsenifer Marozsan, Marta, Lieke Martens, Viviane Miedema, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Wendie Renard, Sari van Veenendal, Ellen White.
Yachine Award shortlist:
Alisson, Ederson, Samir Handanovic, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Hugo Lloris, Manuel Neuer, Jan Oblak, Andre Onana, Wojciech Szczesny, Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Kopa Trophy shortlist:
Vinicius Jr, Matthijs de Ligt, Matteo Guendouzi, Kai Havertz and Andrei Lunin, Joao Felix, Jadon Sancho, Moise Kean, Samuel Chukwueze and Kang-in Lee.
Source: Mirror
