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Fierce rivals Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are top on a 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or 2019 released on Monday.
Virgil van Dijk who has recently been challenging the dominance of the duo is also in the star-studded list, but Brazilian and PSG superstar Neymar failed to make the cut.
The trio were the top three in voting for Fifa’s The Best award earlier this year,
Ronaldo and Messi currently share the record for most Ballon d’Or wins with five, and are looking to take the lead outright.
Read also: I deserve more Ballon d’Or awards than Messi, says Ronaldo
The duo have enjoyed a good run in the period under review after winning domestic league titles with Juventus and Barcelona respectively, while Ronaldo also led Portugal to victory in the Uefa Nations League.
The nominees in full:
Sergio Aguero (Man City)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona)
Matthjis de Ligt (Juevntus)
Joao Felix (Portugal)
Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
Riyad Mahrez (Man City)
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Marquinhos (PSG)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Mo Salah (Liverpool)
Bernardo Silva (Man City)
Heung-min Son (Tottenham)
Raheem Sterling (Man City)
Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Donny van de Beek (Ajax)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)
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