AFTER FINISHING THIRD behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi last year and moving to PSG in an effort to overtake them, Neymar is not among the 10 finalists named for this year’s Fifa The Best men’s player award.
Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah, Raphael Varane and Kevin De Bruyne represent new entries compared to last year’s list of 24 finalists, with N’Golo Kante, Toni Kroos, Gianluigi Buffon, Sergio Ramos and Luis Suarez among those joining Neymar on the outside looking in.
Ronaldo and Messi remain in the 10-strong shortlist released by Fifa today, with World Cup Golden Ball-winner Luka Modric the only other survivor from 2017 top 10 after the public vote.
Harry Kane, Eden Hazard and Antoine Griezmann were among the list of 24 men shortlisted for the award last year, but their World Cup exploits have boosted them into the 10-man list of finalists this time around.
The list of finalists were decided on by a panel of 12 ex-pros, including Kaka, Didier Drogba, Ronaldo, Frank Lampard and Lothar Mathaus, the winner will be decided by public vote (which you can take part in here).
Fifa’s The Best men’s player award (for period between 3 July 2017 and 15 July 2018)
Cristiano Ronaldo
Kevin De Bruyne
Antoine Griezmann
Eden Hazard
Harry Kane
Kylian Mbappe
Lionel Messi
Luka Modric
Mohamed Salah
Raphael Varane
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