Bengaluru, December 5: Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo looks the overwhelming favourite for the FIFA Ballon d'Or which will be presented on Thursday (December 7) in France.
The Portugal captain along with Barcelona star Lionel Messi and his ex team-mate Neymar, who moved to Paris Saint-Germain at the start of the season, are among those in a 30-member short list for the most prestigious award in football.
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The award is presented by the weekly football magazine France Football to the player it deems to be the best in the world over the calendar year. The jury comprises a panel of journalists.
Ronaldo has won the FIFA honour three times (2013, 2014 and 2016) and if he wins it again, then the 32-year-old will equal his long-time Argentinian adversary Messi who has won it a record four times (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015).
Ronaldo has already won the FIFA's Best Player award this year in October and it would be a grand double if he wins the Ballon d'Or on Thursday.
The rivalry between Ronaldo and Messi is set to resume this month when La Liga champions Real take on archrivals Barcelona in the El Clasico on December 23.
The event will be held at the iconic at the Eiffel Tower in Paris 7.45pm local time (12.15am IST, Friday).
The Ballon d'Or nominees
Player | Teams |
---|---|
Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid & Portugal |
Eden Hazard | Chelsea & Belgium |
Leonardo Bonucci | AC Milan & Italy |
Isco | Real Madrid & Spain |
Kylian Mbappe | PSG & France |
Neymar | PSG & Brazil |
Luka Modric | Real Madrid & Croatia |
Paulo Dybala | Juventus & Argentina |
Marcelo | Real Madrid & Brazil |
N'Golo Kante | Chelsea & France |
Luis Suarez | Barcelona & Uruguay |
Sergio Ramos | Real Madrid & Spain |
Jan Oblak | Atletico Madrid & Slovenia |
Philippe Coutinho | Liverpool & Brazil |
Dries Mertens | Napoli & Belgium |
Kevin De Bruyne | Manchester City & Belgium |
Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich & Poland |
David de Gea | Manchester United & Spain |
Harry Kane | Tottenham & England |
Edin Dzeko | Roma & Bosnia-Herzegovina |
Antoine Griezmann | Atletico Madrid & France |
Gianluigi Buffon | Juventus & Italy |
Radamel Falcao | Monaco & Colombia |
Sadio Mane | Liverpool & Senegal |
Toni Kroos | Real Madrid & Germany |
Lionel Messi | Barcelona & Argentina |
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Borussia Dortmund & Gabon |
Edinson Cavani | PSG & Uruguay |
Mats Hummels | Bayern Munich & Germany |
Karim Benzema | Real Madrid & France |