Former winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been shortlisted for the Best FIFA Men’s Player for 2020.
The nominations for seven individual trophies were released on Wednesday with the ceremony slated for 17 December.
Ronaldo, who won in 2016 and 2017, and Messi, who won last year, headline the list. Other nominees are Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich, Liverpool), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool).
Previously called the FIFA World Player of the Year award has been won six times by Messi and five times by Ronaldo. It was then joined with Ballon d’Or to be called FIFA Ballon d’Or before getting another name.
A stellar list of former players were part of the panel that shortlisted the nominations and will be truncated further. The three finalists will be announced on 11 December with public voting running until 9 December.
The ceremony on 17 December will be held virtually owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
