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#1 Intense competition from elsewhere
The race for the Ballon d'Or award has never been this open. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who have shared the last 10 editions are arguably towards the back end of their career.
Recent developments suggest that they could lose their stranglehold on the amazing prize this year. In fact, the race is very tight at the moment, with several superstars threatening their dominance with incredible performances all year round.
Liverpool winger, Mohamed Salah took his game to a different level last term, bagging an incredible 43 goals and 16 assists for The Reds in all competitions as well as leading his country Egypt to the World cup for the first time in 28 years.
The World Cup has also thrown in its own share of contenders, with a lot of amazing performers emerging from the tournament that also had great club seasons. The likes of Luka Modric, Kylian Mbappe, Raphael Varane, Harry Kane and Antoine Griezmann were all brilliant at the Mundial after coming off wonderful seasons for their respective clubs. These players have a great opportunity to stop Ronaldo from defending his title.
