Best FIFA Player of the Year: Messi, Hazard, Ronaldo nominated

By Our Reporter
JUVENTUS superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi lead a 10-man shortlist of nominees in the running to be named The Best FIFA Men's Player for 2019. 

FIFA announced the 10 contenders on Wednesday, with Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk among the five players named from the Premier League in 2018-19.

Eden Hazard moved to Real Madrid from Chelsea in June, but his work at Stamford Bridge was enough to earn a nomination, while Spurs and England striker Harry Kane is also in contention.

Others included in the 10-man list are former Ajax duo Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt for their stellar Champions League displays at the Dutch club with big-money moves to Barcelona and Juventus respectively.

The award’s roots trace to the FIFA Ballon d’Or award. At first, the Ballon d’Or was given by France Football magazine. This changed for a few years when FIFA officially co-sponsored it. However, the partnership broke up, and now we have FF giving out the Ballon d’Or and FIFA giving out the “The Best” prize.

Fans have the opportunity to vote for their favourite three players, with the top pick receiving five points, the second choice three points and the third choice one point.

The result of this vote will then be combined with the votes of "other key members of the footballing community", journalists and national team coaches and captains.

At that point, the shortlist will be whittled down further to just three names, who will be up for the gong at The Best FIFA Football Awards show, which will be staged in Milan on September 23.

This is the fourth edition of the prize, with the inaugural winner Cristiano Ronaldo in 2016. The Portugal star also claimed the honours in 2017 before Luka Modric became the second winner in 2018, edging out both Ronaldo and Salah.

The Croat, however, has missed out on a nomination this time around.