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The Ballon d'Or, the Ball of Gold -- football's most treasured individual prize and the object of the sport's fiercest rivalry yet -- Messi vs Ronaldo. The two greatest footballers of our time have an astonishing 5 each, and this could just be the tiebreaker that tips the scales in the favour of the winner.
This year has seen plenty of action, all the big boys coming into play by the business end of the season, and we have quite a few surprises in this list - the last rankings we'll release before the World Cup is over.
There are some new entrants, some who have made way, and some who have stayed where they are - you may, of course, disagree with us on the order (and vociferously at that) and if you do have any complaints, issues, pointers, or praise.. please feel free to leave them in our comments section
#10 Edin Dzeko
Often maligned during his time at Manchester City, Edin Dzeko has been an absolute revelation at AS Roma.
This season he wasn't as prolific in Serie A as last time - 29 vs 16 - but he turned for the big games... the Champions League ones this time around. He was immense against Barcelona, bullying Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti in both legs of the quarterfinals, and giving Liverpool's defence a run for their money in the semifinal.
His performances in the Champions League and the latter stages of the Serie A - ensuring Roma finish in the top 4 - seem him catapult himself into our Ballon d'Or Power Rankings.
#9 Harry Kane
We laughed at him for appealing - and winning - a decision to grant a goal to Christian Eriksen instead of him, even swearing on his daughter's life to prove his point... but what we did miss in the hullabaloo (justified enough hullabaloo as it were) was the Englishman's total commitment to scoring goals. Not just winning matches. Scoring goals.
Modern football doesn't have too many of his breed around - CR7 is obviously the zenith - but for bringing back the concept of the good ol' fashioned 'I just want to score goals' and continuing his commitment to the cause with such consistency, he remains put in our top 10.
#8 Kevin de Bruyne
The heartbeat of the most impressive (domestic) football team this season - Kevin de Bruyne's hardly put a foot wrong all year.
With an ability to calculate angles and trajectories that would make Pythagoras proud, one of football's smartest minds has made football look the simplest thing on the planet.
He isn't higher up this list, though, because of City's abysmal quarterfinal loss to Liverpool and the fact that he didn't really hit the heights of the early season during the latter part of the Cityzen's title run.
Would have been criminal to drop him out entirely, though.
#7 Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Barcelona almost finished the domestic season unbeaten and while a lot of the focus has been on Lionel Messi (further up this list, much, much further) during this immense period a large part of their success has been due to ter Stegen's excellence in the Blaugrana goal
He's kept an incredible 18 clean sheets in 33 appearances, making an average of 2.36 saves a match, and conceding just 0.58 goals per match. While his distribution was never under question, it has improved regularly, but what's stood out most is that he's cut down on the silly mistakes that has often plagued his game.
With him slated to be Germany's no.1 (Manuel Neuer's still not 100% after recovering from long-term injury), he could well rise up these rankings next month!
#6 Keylor Navas
A goalkeeper's life is unforgiving... a hundred perfect days can be forgotten in the blink of an eye if you make one mistake at the wrong time - and Navas was this close to being the villain of Real Madrid's historic season.
If Madrid had not won (fairly) and converted that last minute penalty against Juventus, Navas' inexcusable mistake - when he spilled the ball at the feet of Blaise Matuidi to gift Juve their third goal of the match - could well have put Los Blancos out of the Champions League... and we wouldn't be talking about him here.
But to not do so would be criminal - the Costa Rican has been excellent all season, despite the early-season patchiness of the defence in front of him - and has played some blinders at key moments this season (including the second Clasico of the season, where his goalkeeping ensured Madrid walked back with their heads held high).
Pity, then, that once the Spanish transfer window opens, they'll still talk about wanting David De Gea.
#5 Robert Lewandowski
Bundesliga's Torjägerkanone, or top scorer for the third time in his career, Robert Lewandowski's had an excellent season with all-powerful Bayern Munich. His excellence has been at such a level that he's scored almost 2 times the second highest (Nils Petersen with 15)!
The Pole's scored at an amazing 75 minutes per goal, and he's getting better with time. Clinical as ever in front of goal, he's improved his overall game, contributing more to the build-up and improving the passing aspect of his game.
#4 Antoine Griezmann
Out of the blue, and right into the top 4... Antoine Griezmann had a fairly forgettable first half to this season, but he's been unstoppable ever since 2018 ticked over - and isn't that what matters for the purposes of this award?
In fact of the 29 goals he's scored for Atletico Madrid, 22 have come since January 2018 - a remarkable statistic indicating just how much he upped his game for the big occasions (including the solitary goal across two legs of Atleti vs Arsenal and a brace against Marseille in the final of the Europa League)
All this has come at zero cost to his defensive discipline and tireless commitment to press acros the park and that's a commendable achievement.
#3 Lionel Messi
Another season, another Golden Shoe, another Pichichi. Lionel Messi seems to be aging like fine wine - and this season he's been as devastatingly effective for Barcelona as he's ever been. Utterly unstoppable in La Liga, Messi's smashed in 34 goals in league action - and 45 overall for Barca this season.
And he's been in stunning form for Argentina as well
In fact, just a couple of days ago he scored the 47th hattrick of his career (club and international) against Haiti, and if he's in that kind of form for the Albiceleste when they show up in Russia, the no. 1 spot could be under serious threat.
#2 Mohamed Salah
How unfortunate for Salah, eh? After having arguably the greatest debut season in the Premier League era - he scored 32 goals in 36 league games, and a superb 11 in 15 Champions League appearances.
With a left foot to die for, and a new-found ruthlessness in front of goal (no way Roma would have let him go for 35 million if he had been finishing like this for them), Salah has transformed Liverpool from simple entertainers to actual contenders for the main trophies in the game.
His impact for Egypt, meanwhile, is even more profound. Having guided them to their first World Cup in 28 years, the hopes and prayers of a nation rest on his shoulders. If he can guide Egypt to the knock-out stages of the World Cup, he'll a real claim to the no. 1 spot.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo
How the Portuguese elevates his game when it really matters - on the biggest stages of them all - is a study in commitment and excellence... and it's quite incredible that someone who had just 4 league goals in the first half of the season ended it with an utterly unbelievable 26... including a run of 10 consecutive games in which he bagged atleast a goal.
It was in the Champions League, though, that he was the real beast... scoring an astonishing 15 goals in the 13 matches he played - and he was Madrid's most influential player as they went on to win their third consecutive European crown.
It was also Ronaldo's fifth overall.
Write him off at the World Cup at your own risk
