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The Ballon d'Or ceremony is underway and it has already pulled off a few major surprises in the first few names it has released. Like every year, France Football and L'Equipe (the organisation which runs the Ballon d'Or award ceremony) are releasing the names in batches of 5.
Here is the initial 30 man shortlist who were considered for this prestigious award:
Neymar Jr (PSG, Brazil), Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia), Paulo Dybala (Juventus, Argentina), Marcelo Vieira (Real Madrid, Brazil), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea, France), Luis Suarez (Barcelona, Uruguay), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid, Spain), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid, Slovenia), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool, Brazil), Dries Mertens (Napoli, Belgium), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland), David De Gea (Manchester United, Spain), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur, England), Edin Dzeko (AS Roma, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid, France), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid, Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Sadio Mane (Liverpool, Senegal), Radamel Falcao (AS Monaco, Colombia), Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich, Germany), Edinson Cavani (PSG, Uruguay), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund, Gabon), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal), Eden Hazard (Chelsea, Belgium), Leonardo Bonucci (AC Milan, Italy), Isco (Real Madrid, Spain), Kylian Mbappe (PSG, France)
Here are the rankings released so far:
29. Philippe Coutinho and Dries Mertens
28. Edin Dzeko
27. Mats Hummels
26. Jan Oblak
25. Karim Benzema
24. Radamel Falcao
23. Sadio Mane
21. Leonardo Bonucci and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang
Coutinho and Mertens have received the lowest votes followed by Dzeko, Hummels and Jan Oblak. What is very surprising is the fact that Karim Benzema who has been in really questionable form has managed to finish ahead of some good performers like Coutinho, Mertens and Dzeko.
Italy's defensive rock Bonucci is tied at 21 with Dortmund and Gabon sharpshooter Aubameyang. Do you think these rankings have been right so far? Let us know in the comments section.
You can follow the live coverage of the 2017 Ballon d'Or ceremony here
