France Football has revealed the names on its 30-man shortlist ahead of this year's Ballon d'Or awards ceremony and it was the English Premier League that secured the most representation in the male's category. 11 players from clubs across the league made into the first 20 nominees list that was released in batches of five at exactly at 5pm UK time on Monday.
The most coveted individual award in world football, which was bagged by Real Madrid and Croatian star Luka Modric, is up for grabs once again with the midfielder being amiss in the names released so far. Winner of the 2019 Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year, Lionel Messi as well, UEFA Best Men's Player of the Year Virgil van Dijk and Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo are among the favorites to scoop the award, come December 3 hen the winner will be announced.
It has been a relatively good year for the English Premier League as far as the upcoming Ballon d'Or awards ceremony is concerned mainly because of representation it had across the finals of last season's European club competitions. Of the first 20 names released by France Football, Liverpool six four stars in the mix, Manchester City had two, Tottenham had two and Arsenal had one.
The subsequent 10 names featured three players from Manchester City and one from Liverpool. Below are the 30 stars that made the cut:
30. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
29. Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
28. Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
27. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
26. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
25. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
24. Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
23. Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain)
22. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
21. João Félix (Atletico Madrid)
20. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
19. Bernardo Silva (Man City)
18. Heung-min Son (Tottenham)
17. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
16. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Let's keep the rhythm! Five new #ballondor nominees!
— #BallondOr (@francefootball) October 21, 2019
Virgil van Dijk
Bernardo Silva
Heung-min Son
Robert Lewandowski
Roberto Firmino
Players already announced > https://t.co/WhEz0voCwh pic.twitter.com/e8Ok8DCVOo
15. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
14. Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
13. Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus)
12. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
11. Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)
We still have a lot to announce! Here are five new #ballondor nominees!
— #BallondOr (@francefootball) October 21, 2019
Cristiano Ronaldo
Alisson
Matthijs de Ligt
Karim Benzema
Georginio Wijnaldum
Players already announced > https://t.co/WhEz0voCwh pic.twitter.com/o8AeppE1GL
10. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
9. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
8. Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
7. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (Barcelona)
6. Donny van de Beek (Ajax)
Let's continue with the 2019 #ballondor nominees!
— #BallondOr (@francefootball) October 21, 2019
Kylian Mbappé
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Donny van de Beek
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Marc-André ter Stegen
Players already announced > https://t.co/WhEz0voCwh pic.twitter.com/ZQO4eVEtAS
5. Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
4. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
3. Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
2. Frenkie De Jong (Barcelona)
1. Sergio Aguero (Man City)
Here are our first nominees for the 2019 #ballondor!
— #BallondOr (@francefootball) October 21, 2019
Sadio Mané
Sergio Agüero
Frenkie De Jong
Hugo Lloris
Dušan Tadić pic.twitter.com/e7STLVAGfR