France Football have revealed the Ballon d'Or nominees with Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk amongst the favourites for the 2019 honour.
Messi, 32, pipped van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo for the FIFA The Best Men's award in September and is a strong contender for the latest edition.
With Ronaldo and Messi both on five Ballon d'Or each, the FC Barcelona captain will be aiming to lift a record sixth, after missing out on a podium finish last year - in which Luka Modric walked away with the top gong.
While Modric became the first player to end the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly over the past decade, Liverpool and Netherlands star, van Dijk, is also a strong favouirte to challenge the iconic forwards.
Van Dijk was crowned Uefa Player of the Year in August and has continued his remarkable form with Jurgen Klopp's side this season as they lead the Premier League.
The 30 players nominated for the 2019 edition has been selected by the editorial staff of France Football - which will then be moved on to a jury of journalists for the final vote.
One media representative of each country will then be asked to cast their vote on the following categories, as per the Evening Standard.
- Individual and collective performances (winners) during the year
- Player's class (talent and fair play)
- Player's career
30 Nominees released by France Football:
1. Dusan Tadic
2. Hugo Lloris
3. Frenkie de Jong
4. Sergio Aguero
5. Sadio Mane
6. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
8. Donny Vande Beek
9. Trent Alexander-Arnold
10. Kylian Mbappe
11. Alisson Becker
12. Cristiano Ronaldo
13. Matthijs de Ligt
14. Karim Benzema
15. Georgino Wijnaldum
16. Virgil van Dijk
17. Bernardo Silva
18. Son Hueng-Min
19. Robert Lewandowski
20. Roberto Firmino
21. Lionel Messi
22. Riyad Mahrez
23. Kevin de Bruyne
24. Kalid Koulibaly
25. Antoine Griezmann
26. Mohamed Salah
27. Eden Hazard
28. Marquinhos
29. Raheem Sterling
30. Joao Felix
