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France Football has released its list of thirty nominees for the 2018 edition of the prestigious Ballon d'Or award in separate intervals on Monday. The award is Europe's highest and oldest honor, and has been presented by France Football every year since 1956.
The winner is voted for by 173 journalists around the world, with one representative per nation, while the list of nominees is compiled by the editorial staff of the French publication.
For a while the award was combined with world football's governing body FIFA's Best Award, but the association was cut off in September 2016.
France Football has now released their thirty-man nominee list, and it includes - Sergio Aguero, Alisson Becker, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Edinson Cavani, Thibaut Courtois, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Roberto Firmino, Diego Godin, Antoine Griezmann, Eden Hazard, Isco, Harry Kane, N’Golo Kante, Hugo Lloris, Mario Mandzukic, Sadio Mane, Marcelo, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, Neymar, Jan Oblak, Paul Pogba, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Ramos, Mohamed Salah, Luis Suarez, and Raphael Varane.
In the last decade, the award has been a tug of war between Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi.
The reigning holder is of course Ronaldo who has once again made the list this year, as has Messi who has also won the award five times in the past.
The accolade is once again on offer in Paris in December.
The Premier League saw eleven of its players being nominated for the award. Liverpool has four players in the list, with attacking trio - Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane as well as goalkeeper Allison Becker.
Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris, Manchester City's Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne, Manchester United's Paul Pogba as well as Chelsea pair Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante also made the cut to add to the Premier League representation.
Twitter has since reacted to the list.
