Best FIFA Men's Player award: Messi, Ronaldo, Hazard shortlisted as Griezmann, Neymar overlooked

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah are all in contention for The Best FIFA Men's Player award, but Antoine Griezmann is not.

Published : Jul 31, 2019 21:13 IST

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are in contention for the Best FIFA Men's Player award.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are in contention for the Best FIFA Men's Player award.
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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are in contention for the Best FIFA Men's Player award.

Antoine Griezmann and Neymar are not on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Men's Player award, with Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi up against Cristiano Ronaldo and Eden Hazard for this year's prize.

Griezmann completed his long-awaited €120 million transfer to the Spanish champions in July but his 15-goal contribution to Atletico Madrid's second-place finish in the 2018-19 La Liga table was not enough to impress FIFA's panel.

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Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk are in contention after helping the Reds to glory in last season's Champions League, while Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong have been recognised for their part in helping Ajax to the semifinals and to a domestic title.

There is no place for 2018 winner and Ballon d'Or holder Luka Modric, nor his Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale, and Neymar misses out while Paris Saint-Germain colleague Kylian Mbappe is among the nominees.

Manchester City playmaker Bernardo Silva may wonder what more he must do to catch FIFA's eye after his outstanding performances in a treble-winning season that preceded Portugal's Nations League triumph.

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While he misses out along with team-mates Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Riyad Mahrez – a winner of the Africa Cup of Nations with Algeria – Tottenham's Harry Kane is in the running after his 24 goals in all competitions helped Spurs to its first Champions League final.

Sadio Mane scored 22 Premier League goals for Liverpool last season before netting three for Senegal in their run to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.

 

 

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