FIFA have on Tuesday announced the official 10-man shortlist for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award 2018.
Brazil superstar and the world’s most expensive player, Neymar did not make it to the list while one African, Mohamed Salah is among the nominees.
Nominees who made the list include, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne Antoine Griezmann, Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, Luka Modric, Mohamed Salah and Raphael Varane.
The award is assessing players for the period between 3rd July 2017 to 15th July 2018.
Kane scoring six goals to take home the Golden Boot. He also netted 30 Premier League goals for Spurs as they finished third.
Salah scored 44 goals to claim Premier League Golden Boot and registered 14 assists in his debut season at Anfield as Liverpool and also featured as Liverpool reached the Champions League final.
De Bruyne won the Premier League with Pep Guardiola’s record-breaking team – surpassing the 100-point barrier for the first time in history – and claimed the Carabao Cup with a 3-0 win over Arsenal.
Hazard also lifted the FA Cup with Chelsea, scoring in the final against Manchester United at Wembley.
Cristiano Ronaldo has also made the list after helping Real Madrid win an unprecedented third successive Champions League glory. He was the competition’s highest scorer with 15 goals.
Lionel Messi is another candidate for the award having led Barcelona to a league and cup double. The Argentina international also finished the campaign as the highest scorer in Europe’s top five leagues with 34 goals.
Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Raphael Varane have all received recognition after winning the World Cup with France in Russia.
Mbappe, 19, also won the league and cup double in France – scoring 21 goals and assisting 15 times in his debut season with Paris Saint-Germain. He also won the young player award in the just concluded FIFA World Cup
Griezmann led Atletico Madrid to Europa League glory and Varane lifted the Champions League with Real.
Luka Modric who took Croatia to their first ever World Cup final and claimed the Best player of the tournament. He also played a key role in Real Madrid’s historic Champions League victory.
