Ballon d’Or season is in full swing, and the nominations have been revealed!
It is 10 years since Juventus attacker Cristiano Ronaldo first won the award, marking the start of an unprecedented duopoly between the Portuguese and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.
The last winner outside of the superhuman pair is Kaka, the Brazilian playmaker who won the prize in 2007.
Defender Fabio Cannavaro was victorious in 2006, while Ronaldinho, Andriy Shevchenko and Pavel Nedved were successful in 2005, 2004 and 2003 respectively.
It remains to be seen, however, if Ronaldo or Messi will be successful again this year, after Luka Modric won the FIFA Best Men’s Player of the Year award.
The shortlist:
| 2018 Ballon d’Or nominees | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Country | Club | |
| Sergio Aguero | Forward | Argentina | Manchester City |
| Alisson | Goalkeeper | Brazil | Liverpool |
| Gareth Bale | Forward | Wales | Real Madrid |
| Karim Benzema | Forward | France | Real Madrid |
| Kevin de Bruyne | Midfielder | Belgium | Manchester City |
| Edinson Cavani | Forward | Uruguay | Paris St-Germain |
| Thibaut Courtois | Goalkeeper | Belgium | Real Madrid |
| Roberto Firmino | Forward | Brazil | Liverpool |
| Diego Godin | Defender | Uruguay | Atletico Madrid |
| Antoine Griezmann | Forward | France | Atletico Madrid |
| Eden Hazard | Forward | Belgium | Chelsea |
| Isco | Midfielder | Spain | Real Madrid |
| Harry Kane | Forward | England | Tottenham |
| N’Golo Kante | Midfielder | France | Chelsea |
| Hugo Lloris | Goalkeeper | France | Tottenham |
| Mario Mandzukic | Forward | Croatia | Juventus |
| Sadio Mane | Forward | Senegal | Liverpool |
| Marcelo | Defender | Brazil | Real Madrid |
| Kylian Mbappe | Forward | France | Paris St-Germain |
| Lionel Messi | Forward | Argentina | Barcelona |
| Luka Modric | Midfielder | Croatia | Real Madrid |
| Neymar | Forward | Brazil | Paris St-Germain |
| Jan Oblak | Goalkeeper | Slovenia | Atletico Madrid |
| Paul Pogba | Midfielder | France | Manchester United |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Forward | Portugal | Juventus |
| Ivan Rakitic | Midfielder | Croatia | Barcelona |
| Sergio Ramos | Defender | Spain | Real Madrid |
| Mohamed Salah | Midfielder | Egypt | Liverpool |
| Luis Suarez | Forward | Uruguay | Barcelona |
| Raphael Varane | Defender | France | Real Madrid |
What is the Ballon d’Or?
The Ballon d’Or has been awarded by France Football every year since 1956, with former England international Sir Stanley Matthews the first winner.
For six years it combined with world football’s governing body to become the Fifa Ballon d’Or.
However, Fifa ended its association with the award in September 2016.
At Fifa’s awards in September, Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric was named the world’s best male player, while Brazil and Orlando Pride forward Marta won the best female player award.